Abstract
Various membrane fractions have been prepared from rabbit brain synaptosomes by centrifugation on discontinuous sucrose gradients after osmotic shock. These fractions were characterized by electron microscopy (E.M.), SDS-PAGE and GABA binding. The fractions were then studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The calorimetric results indicate that all the fractions studied show thermal transitions at around 60° C which correspond to the “melting” of membrane structures. An additional transition at higher temperature (82° C) seems to be associated with an enrichment in central myelin fragments.