Abstract
Catalytic activity and immunoreactivity of glycogen phosphorylase were studied in pre- and postnatal rat brain. The catalytic activity was assayed in brain homogenates; immunoreactivity was investigated by immunoblot analysis using a monoclonal anti-bovine brain glycogen phosphorylase antibody. The cellular localization and intensity of immunoreactivity were analysed on paraffin-embedded sections utilizing the same monoclonal antibody. The catalytic activity increased 10-fold from embryonic day 16 to adult; immunoreactivity became detectable on embryonic day 16 and increased in intensity as the enzyme activity rose to adult values. The first cellular elements to be stained immunohistochemically were ependymal cells lining the ventricles, ependymal cells of the choroid plexus, meningeal cells and a selected population of neurons in the brain stem. The immunoreactivity of plexus cells and meningeal cells was reduced or absent in the adult rat brain. The earliest appearance of glycogen phosphorylase immunoreactivity in astroglial cells was seen at postnatal day 9 in the hippocampus. The staining pattern of the adult brain was reached at day 22 post partum. The developmental changes in glycogen deposition and in glycogen phophorylase activity and immunoreactivity may indicate a variable physiological role of glycogen metabolism for different cell types in the pre- and postnatal periods.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Borke RC, Nau ME (1984) Glycogen, its transient occurrence in neurons of the rat CNS during normal postnatal development. Dev Brain Res 16:277–284
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Brückner G, Biesold D (1981) Histochemistry of glycogen deposition in perinatal rat brain: importance of radial glial cells. J Neurocytol 10:749–757
David ES, Crerar MM (1986) Quantitation of glycogen phosphorylase mRNA and enzyme amounts in adult rat tissues. Biochim Biophys Acta 880:78–90
Delain D, Meienhofer MC, Proux D, Schapira F (1973) Studies on myogenesis in vitro: Changes of creatine kinase, phosphorylase and phosphofructokinase isozymes. Differentiation 1:349–355
Dringen R, Gebhardt R, Hamprecht B (1993) Glycogen in astrocytes: possible function as lactate supply for neighbouring cells. Brain Res (in press)
Drummond GI, Keith J, Gilgan MW (1964) Brain glycogen phosphorylase. Arch Biochem Biophys 105:156–162
Edwards C, Rogers K (1972) Some factors influencing brain glycogen in the neonate chick. J Neurochem 19:2759–2766
Ghandour MS, Langley OK, Clos J (1983) Immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches to the development of neuroglia in the CNS, with special reference to the cerebellum. Int J Dev Neurosci 1:411–425
Goldberg ND, O'Toole AG (1969) The properties of glycogen synthase and regulation of glycogen biosynthesis in rat brain. J Biol Chem 244:3053–3061
Ignacio PC, Baldwin BA, Vijayan VK, Tait RC, Gorin FA (1990) Brain isozyme of glycogen phosphorylase: immunohistological localization within the central nervous system. Brain Res 529:42–49
Knull HR, Khandelwal RL (1982) Glycogen metabolizing enzymes in brain. Neurochem Res 7:1307–1317
Kohle SJ, Vannucci RC (1977) Glycogen metabolism in fetal and postnatal rat brain: influence of birth. J Neurochem 28:441–443
Newgard CB, Norkiewicz B, Hughes SD, Frenkel RA, Coats WS, Martiniuk F, Johnston JM (1991) Developmental expression of glycogenolytic enzymes in rabbit tissues-possible relationship to fetal lung maturation. Biochim Biophys Acta 1090:333–342
Oksche A (1961) Der histochemisch nachweisbare Glykogenaufbau und -abbau in den Astrocyten und Ependymzellen als Beispiel einer funktionsabhängigen Stoffwechselaktivität der Neuroglia. Z Zellforsch 54:307–361
Oksche A, Kirschstein H, Vaupel von Harnack M (1969) Vergleichende Ultrastrukturstudien an glykogenreichen Plexus chorioidei (Embryonalzustand, Winterschlaf). Z Zellforsch 94:232–251
Pfeiffer B, Elmer K, Roggendorf W, Reinhart PH, Hamprecht B (1990) Immunohistochemical demonstration of glycogen phosphorylase in rat brain slices. Histochemistry 94:73–80
Pfeiffer B, Meyermann R, Hamprecht B (1992) Immunohistochemiscal co-localization of glycogen phosphorylase with the astroglial markers glial fibrillary acidic protein and S-100 protein in rat brain slices. Histochemistry 97:405–412
Reinhart PH, Pfeiffer B, Spengler S, Hamprecht B (1990) Purification of glycogen phosphorylase from bovine brain and immunocytochemical examination of rat glial primary cultures using monoclonal antibodies raised against the enzyme. J Neurochem 54:1474–1483
Richter F, Böhme HJ, Hofmann E (1983) Developmental changes of glycogen phosphorylase b isozymes in rat tissues. Biomed Biochim Acta 42:1229–1235
Shapiro B, Wertheimer E (1943) Phosphorolysis and synthesis of glycogen in animal tissues. Biochem J 37:397–404
Villar-Palasi C, Larner J (1960) Levels of activity of the enzymes of the glycogen cycle in rat tissues. Arch Biochem Biophys 86:270–273
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Dedicated to Professor Helmut Leonhardt on the occasion of his 75th birthday
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pfeiffer, B., Buse, E., Meyermann, R. et al. Glycogen phosphorylase activity and immunoreactivity during pre- and postnatal development of rat brain. Histochemistry 100, 265–270 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270045
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270045