Biomaterial Database

Isolation of Peroxisomes from Mouse Brain Using a Continuous Nycodenz Gradient: A Comparison to the Isolation of Liver and Kidney Peroxisomes. 2017

Miriam J Schönenberger, and Werner J Kovacs

Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

In the central nervous system (CNS) peroxisomes are present in all cell types, namely neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, and endothelial cells. Brain peroxisomes are smaller in size compared to peroxisomes from other tissues and are therefore referred to as microperoxisomes. We have established a purification procedure to isolate highly purified peroxisomes from the central nervous system that are well separated from the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria and are free of myelin contamination. The major difficulty in purification of brain peroxisomes compared to peroxisomes from liver or kidney is the presence of large amounts of myelin in the CNS, which results in contamination of the subcellular fractions. Hence, the crucial step of the isolation procedure is the elimination of myelin by the use of a sucrose gradient, since without the elimination of myelin no significant enrichment of purified peroxisomes can be achieved. Another difficulty is that in brain tissue the abundance of peroxisomes decreases significantly during postnatal development. We provide a detailed protocol for the isolation of peroxisomes from mouse central nervous system as well as a protocol for the isolation of peroxisomes from the liver and kidney using a continuous Nycodenz gradient.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007668	Kidney	Body organ that filters blood for the secretion of URINE and that regulates ion concentrations.	Kidneys
D008099	Liver	A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.	Livers
D001921	Brain	The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.	Encephalon
D002374	Catalase	An oxidoreductase that catalyzes the conversion of HYDROGEN PEROXIDE to water and oxygen. It is present in many animal cells. A deficiency of this enzyme results in ACATALASIA.	Catalase A,Catalase T,Manganese Catalase,Mn Catalase
D002458	Cell Fractionation	Techniques to partition various components of the cell into SUBCELLULAR FRACTIONS.	Cell Fractionations,Fractionation, Cell,Fractionations, Cell
D002499	Centrifugation, Density Gradient	Separation of particles according to density by employing a gradient of varying densities. At equilibrium each particle settles in the gradient at a point equal to its density. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	Centrifugations, Density Gradient,Density Gradient Centrifugation,Density Gradient Centrifugations,Gradient Centrifugation, Density,Gradient Centrifugations, Density
D004789	Enzyme Activation	Conversion of an inactive form of an enzyme to one possessing metabolic activity. It includes 1, activation by ions (activators); 2, activation by cofactors (coenzymes); and 3, conversion of an enzyme precursor (proenzyme or zymogen) to an active enzyme.	Activation, Enzyme,Activations, Enzyme,Enzyme Activations
D004950	Esterases	Any member of the class of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of an ester bond and result in the addition of water to the resulting molecules.	Esterase
D005969	Glutamate Dehydrogenase	An enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of L-glutamate and water to 2-oxoglutarate and NH3 in the presence of NAD+. (From Enzyme Nomenclature, 1992) EC 1.4.1.2.	Dehydrogenase, Glutamate
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia