R. Zech, G. Domagk
Jul 15, 1976
Citations
0
Influential Citations
13
Citations
Journal
Life sciences
Abstract
Abstract The antibiotic anisomycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis in eucaryotic cells, which blocks long-term memory in mice, is shown to interact with the cholinergic system by inhibiting reversibly the acetylcholinesterase. The inhibition is a competitive one, the inhibition constant K i being 5.0 × 10 −3 for human brain acetylcholinesterase and 1.7 × 10 −3 for acetylcholinesterase of bovine erythrocytes. The anisomycin effect on acetylcholinesterase is compared with the puromycin and cycloheximide-inhibition of the enzyme. The significance of the cholinergic effect of anisomycin in addition to its inhibitory effect on protein synthesis for the interpretation of memory experiments is discussed.