Abstract
A SPECIFIC choline esterase is an enzyme which hydrolyses acetylcholine at a higher rate than any other esters1. Richards and Cutkomp2, however, have found that choline esterase from insect nerves is more active on acetyl-ß-methylcholine than on acetylcholine. I have also arrived at similar results with other invertebrates3. Thus the whole animal of Patella vulgata, and the ampulla and podia of Asterias rubens from the west coast of Sweden, split acetyl-Î-methylcholine at a higher rate than acetylcholine. Benzoylcholine is very little split. In contrast to this, Terebratulina caput serpentis hydrolyses acetylcholine but neither acetyl-Î-methylcholine nor benzoylcholine.
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References
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AUGUSTINSSON, KB. Choline Esterase and its Specificity. Nature 157, 587 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157587c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157587c0
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