Nucleoside triphosphate changes during the peripheral life-span of erythrocytes of adult rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).

Determinations of nucleoside triphosphates (NTP) were made on rainbow trout erythrocytes segregated into age classes following velocity sedimentation at unit gravity. The NTP content of young cells was lower than that of mature cells, whereas it was significantly higher in the oldest cell population. Thin-layer chromatography of erythrocyte cell extracts showed that both ATP and GTP were present and that the former dominated in all age groups. Potassium cyanide was significantly more effective than iodoacetate in lowering NTP levels in the cells of the young age class whereas in the oldest cells the reverse was true.