DISTRIBUTION OF AMINO ACIDS AND OF EXO- AND ENDOPEPTIDASES ALONG VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE NERVES

Abstract— The proximo-distal gradients for representative peptidases, peptidylpeptide hydrolases, and amino acids were measured in segments of peripheral nerve from invertebrates and vertebrates and in the lobster brain and ventral cord.
Crustacean nerve was characterized by a large pool of free amino acids totaling 100–200 μmoles/g wet wt. In lobster nerve, the principal free amino acid was aspartic acid which comprised 55 per cent of the free pool, whereas in the rat sciatic nerve it comprised only 5 per cent. The principal free amino acid in rat sciatic nerve was taurine (32 per cent of the pool) and in lobster brain glycine comprised 30 per cent of the pool. No consistent patterns emerged for the gradients along the nerves for amino acids and hydrolytic enzymes. In the leg nerve of the lobster, concentrations of aspartic acid and arginine were higher in the proximal region, and concentrations of proline and alanine were higher in the distal region. Concentrations of most amino acids were higher in the proximal regions of crab nerve, of lobster brain and ventral cord, and of rat sciatic nerve.
Rat sciatic nerve exhibited a pronounced proximo-distal increase in activity of aminopeptidase (Leu-Gly-Gly). In lobster leg nerve, activity of neutral proteinase was higher in the proximal segment, whereas activity of acid proteinase was higher in the distal segment. The best examples of proximo-distal gradients were found in lobster brain and ventral cord; activities of endopeptidases, arylamidases (Leu- and Arg-βNA), and aminopeptidase were higher in the supra-esophageal ganglia or cephalothorax segments than in the distal regions.