Autoradiographic study of the production of secretory material by the subcommissural organ of frogs (Rana temporaria) after injection of several radioactive precursors, with special reference to the glycosilation and turnover rate of the secretory material.

The suitability of several radioactive precursors for studying the secretory processes in the cells of the subcommissural organ (SCO) of frogs (Rana temporaria) was tested by means of autoradiography. Special attention was paid to: the contributions made by different cellular compartments to the glycosilation of the secretory product, and the intracellular turnover rate of the secretory material. From the results it is concluded that: 3H-glucosamine excellently labels Reissner's fibre (RF) in autoradiographs, much better than any other of the radioactive precursors applied. 3H-glucosamine molecules are attached to the protein moiety of the secretory product within the peri- and subnuclear granular endoplasmic reticulum, whereas 3H-fucose and additional 3H-glucosamine molecules are added to the oligosaccharide moiety in the supranuclear Golgi apparatus, previous to apical release; consequently, the subnuclear secretory material and the material that is released into the brain ventricle are chemically different so far as the oligosaccharide moiety is concerned. The oligosaccharide portion of the apical secretory product belongs (at least partially) to the class of the N-linked complex type oligosaccharides. The intracellular half-life of the subnuclear secretory material is at least 5.5 days. The subnuclear secretory material in the ependymal SCO-cells presumably has to pass through the Golgi apparatus before it can be released; this release probably occurs at the apical cell border.