THE ISOLATION OF A PLASMA MEMBRANE-RICH FRACTION FROM THE SKELETAL-MUSCLE OF 2 SPECIES OF MARINE CRAB, CARCINUS-MAENAS AND CANCER-PAGURUS

1. A rapid method for the isolation of a plasma membrane-rich fraction from crab leg muscle, with high purity and yield recovery was developed, 2. The method is based on sodium iodide extraction of the crude homogenate, followed by centrifugation on Percoll self-creating gradient. 3. (Na+-K+)ATPase and alkaline phosphodiesterase I were used as marker enzymes for the plasma membrane and revealed levels of purification of approximately 13-fold and yields recovery of the total activity in the crude muscle homogenate of approximately 18%, for both species of crab studied.