Subcellular distribution of cytochrome c oxidase, monoamine oxidase and lactate dehydrogenase in the developing chick telencephalon.

The distribution of cytochrome c oxidase monoamine oxidase and lactate dehydrogenase, together with protein, after isopycnic centrifugation of a crude mitochondrial fraction of chick telencephalon homogenate in a linear sucrose density gradient, was followed during late embryogenesis and postnatal maturation. Two main populations of subcellular organelles differentiate; they were characterized biochemically and analyzed by electron microscopy. One population, with a progressively defined mean buoyant density of 1.170 g/ml, exhibited a high relative activity of monoamine oxidase, with a low and relatively constant cytochrome c oxidase/monoamine oxidase activity ratio. This population was composed of free mitochondria and mitochondria enclosed in nerve endings, and possibly of mitochondria of perikaryal and glial origin. A second population, with a progressively well defined mean buoyant density of 1.182-1.186 g/ml, exhibited a high relative activity of cytochrome c oxidase, with a high and increasing cytochrome c oxidase/monoamine oxidase activity ratio. The biochemical and functional significance of these results were discussed.