II 

 AGGREGATES OF NEURONS 



Affinity for Wool as an Indicator of Neuro- 

 pharmacological Activity 



Roland Fischer 1 



Department of Public Health of the Province of Saskatchewan, University Hospital, 

 Saskatoon, Canada 



The reasons for choosing wool protein as a model of the structural sur- 

 face of nervous receptors, possibly involved in some of the biochemical 

 mechanisms of human behavior, are manifold: 



(1) Hair or wool and nervous tissue are both of ectodermal origin. The former 

 consists of a-keratin, whereas neurokeratin is one of the most abundant of the 

 proteins of nervous tissue. Both types of keratins have in common, among other 

 things, their insolubility in acids as well as their resistance toward tryptic and 

 peptic digestion (Fischer, 1953). 



(2) It is believed (Block, 1951) that neurokeratin is possibly the protein in 

 the neurofibrils, the filaments in the nerve cells and in the axon cylinder 

 (Schmitt, et al, 1950). 



(3) Certain basic (cationic) compounds display a strong affinity towards ker- 

 atins of low sulphur content as shown by the gram-positiveness of epidermal 

 and nervous tissue (Fischer, 1953; Bailey, 1950). 



(4) More and more evidence is accumulating to support the theory that there 

 is a similarity in behavior between wool and the protein component of certain 

 cell membranes (Fischer, 1951; Fischer and Larose, 1952a; Fischer and Larose, 

 1952b; Larose and Fischer, 1952; Idem, 1953a; Idem, 1953b). 



(5) Certain experiments confirmed the role of wool protein as a model 

 simulating some of those receptors for which certain drugs appear to compete 

 (Fischer, 1954). For instance, it was well known that methylene blue, which 

 competes with acetylcholine in causing contraction of an isolated frog heart, 

 can be seen easily by its blue color which is absorbed into the tissue and which 



1 Research Biochemist, Psychiatric Research Unit; Lecturer, Department of Bio- 

 chemistry, Medical School, University of Saskatchewan. 



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