Abstract
Brush border bound disaccharidase activities are reduced in the atrophic mucosa of children with active coeliac disease. Enterokinase which is said to have the same subcellular localization as the disaccharidases is however only slightly reduced in coeliac disease. It was suspected therefore that the subcellular localization of enterokinase was more complex than that of sucrase. The enzyme was found in high concentrations in an almost pure preparation of human brush border membrane. A second localization was also found: a fraction of the mucosal homogenate containing only small amounts of brush border but large amounts of endoplasmic reticulum contained a disproportionately high amount of enterokinase. The enzyme occurred in a particulate and not fully active form. To our knowledge this is the first report of an intracellular localization for an intestinal enzyme. One wonders if this intracellular form represents a precursor of the active brush border bound enterokinase.
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Schmitz, J., Troesch, V., Schneider, R. et al. SUBCELLULAR LOCALIZATION OF ENTEROPEPTIDASE (ENTEROKINASE) IN THE HUMAN SMALL INTESTINAL MUCOSA. Pediatr Res 8, 142 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197402000-00095
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197402000-00095