Is there a correspondence between half-lives of motor endplate acetylcholinesterase and junctional acetylcholine receptors?
In order to study the turnover rate of motor endplate acetylcholinesterase (AChE), we have treated hypoglassal nerve with 10 mM colchine, a drug that produced a reversible decrease of AChE from geniohyoid muscle endplates. The return of AChE to the normal steady-state level has been used to calculate an AChE half-life of 4.6 days. This value is very close to that obtained for the half-life of junctional acetylcholine receptors (AChR). Our result supports the contention that both macromolecules have the same turnover rate.
Inestrosa
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NC
Department of Cell Biology and Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago Chile.
Fernández
H L
HL