Characterization of acetylcholinesterase and its molecular forms in organs of five freshwater teleosts

The activity and molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) were characterized in the brain, heart, white skeletal muscle and liver of the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri), European eel (Anguilla anguilla), wels (Silurus glanis), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), belonging in four families. The brain had the highest (between 183.2±10.6 and 1361.2±189.7 mU mg^-1 protein and between 4.7±0.4 and 23.5±2.7 U g^-1 wet tissue) and the liver the lowest (between 25.3±1.9 and 126.5±22.7 mU mg^-1 protein and between 1.0±0.1 and 4.5±0.5 U g^-1 wet tissue) activity in all these fish, with the exception of the wels, where the heart contained the smallest amount of AChE (26.2±7.5 mU mg^-1 protein and 1.2±0.3 U g^-1 wet tissue). The highest tissue AChE activity was found in the carp and lowest in the sturgeon. The solubility properties and molecular forms of AChE in the four tissues were studied by extraction in high-salt medium (1.0 M NaCl) with and without the detergent Triton X-100 (0.5%, v/v). The proportions of detergent-soluble (DS) and salt-soluble (SS) forms of AChE varied considerably from one species to another, but a general tendency could be observed: the proportion of DS AChE was generally higher in the brain (between 70.4±4.1 and 82.5±1.2%) and lower in the heart (between 12.0±2.0 and 51.3±2.3%) and skeletal muscle (between 16.0±2.0 and 64.4±0.7%). Velocity sedimentation centrifugation revealed that most tissues contained the G₄ or A₄ form. Three tissues (brain, heart, and liver) of the Siberian sturgeon contained a relatively high proportion of the G1 form (between 24.3±2.4 and 28.6±4.9%), while the skeletal muscle of the wels contained only the most complex type of AChE, i.e., A₁₂. Amongst the tissues studied, the brain and liver mostly contained amphiphilic globular forms of the G₄ type, while the heart and skeletal muscle were rich in asymmetric forms (A₄ and A₁₂). It was concluded that the differences revealed in the activities of AChE and in the distribution of its molecular forms may be connected with the variation in behavioral habits (feeding and swimming patterns), and the developmental stage of the nervous system.