Pseudo-Cholinesterase in Rat Erythrocytes Basis of Its Substrate Ratio, It Is Possible That It May Be a Butyro-Cholinesterase
No. 4535 September 29, 1956 NATURE 697 Pseudo-cholinesterase in Rat Erythrocytes basis of its substrate ratio, it is possible that it may be a butyro-cholinesterase. .ALTHOUGH there are many references in the literature to the existence of different types of cholin D.R. DAVIES esterase in mammalian sera1, it is generally believed J. P. RUTLAND 2 that human red cells contain only one type • Further more, we can find no evidence in the literature for Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment the existence of a pseudo-cholinesterase in any (Ministry of Supply), mammalian erythrocytes, although many workers Porton, Salisbury. have stated that benzoylcholine is hydrolysed by May 3. red cells. Since, however, the rate of hydrolysis is 1 Mundell, D. B., Nature, 153, 557 (1944). Ellis, S., Sanders, S., and slow, this breakdown of a substrate formerly presumed Bodansky, 0., J. Pharmacol., 91, 225 (1947). Levine M G and Suran, A. A., Enzymologia, 15, 17 (1951). ' · ., to be specific for pseudo-cholinesterase has been 'Mendell, B., Mundell, D. B., and Rudney, H., Biochem. J. 37 473 attributed to true cholinesterase. Indeed, Adams3 (1943). ' ' has shown that purified true cholinesterase does • Adams, D. H., Bwchim. Biophys. Acta, ~. 1 (1949). hydrolyse benzoylcholine, at a rate which would • Fraser, P. ~-, ti:,esis, University of Birmingham (1951), and private commumcat10n (1956). account for such observations. In spite of this, • Aldridge, W. N., Biochem. J., 53, 62 (1953). Austin, L., and Berry some results obtained by Fraser with benzoylcholine• W. K., Bwchem. J., 54, 695 (1953). ' imply the existence of more than one type of cholin 'Bayliss, B.
[Show full text]