Evaluation of preformed Percoll and reorientating sucrose density gradient centrifugation for the analytical subcellular fractionation of dog liver.

A low-speed supernatant from dog liver was prepared and subjected to analytical subcellular fractionation using either preformed Percoll or reorientating sucrose density gradient centrifugation. In Percoll the following organelles, with marker enzymes and modal densities between brackets, were characterised: plasma membrane (alkaline phosphatase, 5' nucleotidase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, 1.039); endoplasmic reticulum (neutral alpha-glucosidase, 1.039); lysosomes (N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, 1.087; alpha-mannosidase, 1.081) peroxisomes (catalase, 1.045) and mitochondria (succinate dehydrogenase, 1.081). In sucrose alkaline phosphatase had a bimodal particulate distribution (1.120, 1.187) distinct from that of 5' nucleotidase (1.160) and of gamma-glutamyl transferase (1.173). Other modal densities were: endoplasmic reticulum (1.187), lysosomes (1.227, 1.200), peroxisomes (1.213) and mitochondria (1.187). Further resolution was achieved by homogenisation in digitonin which disrupted lysosomes and, in sucrose, selectively increased the densities of the plasma membrane components. Both procedures therefore achieved distinct but quite different resolutions of organelles and should prove valuable for investigating subcellular pathology.