LIGHT-SCATTERING STUDIES ON RABBIT BRAIN MICROSOMES .I. EVIDENCE FOR OSMOTIC BEHAVIOR

The osmotic behavior of microsomal vesicles isolated from rabbit brain was studied by light-scattering measurements. When suspended in sucrose solutions of various osmolar concentrations, angular scanning of the intensity of light scattered by microsomes was found to afford a means of estimating relative volume changes of microsomal vesicles on the basis of light-scattering theory. With this method, it was demonstrated that, as reported by Tedeschi et al.3 and Tedeschi and Harris8,7, the Boyle-Van't Hoff's relationship was applicable to the osmotic behavior of microsomal vesicles in sucrose media. In NaCl or KCl solutions, microsomes also responded as osmometers to changes in the osmotic pressure. © 1969.