Abstract
Total lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activity has been measured in dissected portions of the nephron of fetal and adult rat kidneys. The proportion of heart and muscle subunits has been determined by means of the differential inhibition of the two forms by excess pyruvate. The undifferentiated mesenchyme and the glomeruli both have a relatively low total activity and contain principally muscle subunits. Cortical tubules have a higher activity and contain chiefly heart subunits. In the adult kidney, the medulla contains approximately equal numbers of heart and muscle subunits while the LDH of the papilla is almost entirely of the muscle type. Glomeruli of fetal kidneys have essentially the same total LDH activity and proportion of heart and muscle subunits as they do in the adult kidney. In the differentiation of the nephron, the cortical tubule, once it is formed and recognizable, has the same high total LDH activity and the same high proportion of heart subunits as the corresponding structure of the adult kidney. In the whole kidney during development there is a large increase in both total LDH activity and fraction of heart form. This change is a reflection of the increasing relative mass of cortical tubules as development proceeds.
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