Repression of arginase synthesis in Chang liver cells

Arginase, an S-phase enzyme in a human cell line

Suspension cultures of 'Chang liver' cells were synchronized by preincubation in a glutamine-deficient medium or by thymidine blockade. Specific arginase activity varied in the synchronized cultures, being high when the number of S-phase cells was maximal. A relationship between high arginase activity and a high percentage of (S + G2) cells was also found when unsynchronized cells were separated by velocity sedimentation. The increase in arginase activity near the G2/S border was totally inhibited in the presence of cycloheximide. The rate of decrease in activity after addition of the drug indicated that the variations in arginase activity during the mitotic cycle were the result of variations in the rate of synthesis of the enzyme, while the rate of degradation was more or less constant, corresponding to 4--6% per h. The role of arginase in cells lacking a urea cycle and the regulation of arginase activity in 'Chang liver' cells is discussed.

Characterization of the rapidly labeled hybridizable RNA synthesized in L5178Y mouse leukemic cells. Hybridization lifetime studies

An attempt is made to characterize the rapidly labeled hybridizable RNA of L5178Y mouse leukemic cells which has been shown to have similar base sequences when synthesized in two different stages of the cell cycle. The size of rapidly labeled RNA molecules was heterogeneous. For labeling times of 20 min or less, the per cent of hybridization was maximal. With longer labeling times, the per cent of hybridization decreased as radioactivity appeared in long-lived species of low hybridization efficiency; the radioactivity profile resembled the optical density profile in sucrose gradients. The lifetime of newly synthesized hybridizable RNA was studied by pulse labeling exponentially growing cells and then "chasing" with nonradioactive uridine. The per cent of hybridization was studied as a function of chase time. Three RNA groups, which comprised different proportions of rapidly labeled hybridizable RNA, were distinguished. The short-lived group had a half-life of 10 min, much less than the values reported in the literature for messenger RNA of mammalian cells. The half-life of 1-1(1/2) hr observed for a medium-lived group more closely corresponds to that of messenger RNA. A long-lived group had a half-life of approximately 20 hr. Specific activity measurements during chase indicate the presence of a "pool" of labeled uridine derivatives. The uridine of this pool appears to be nonexchangeable with but dilutable by exogenous uridine. A nontoxic concentration of actinomycin D was added to the chase media in an attempt to block the "pool effect". A rapidly degradable RNA was demonstrable both by specific activity and per cent of hybridization measurements.

[Inhibition and induction of protein syntheses by actinomycin in the growing oocytes ofMusca domestica]

The protein synthesis of growing oocytes ofMusca domestica L. is investigated by radioautographic and electrophoretic methods on an intermediate developmental stage (stage 3), and after the end of growth (stage 6) in the normal development and after treatment with Actinomycin. The very high RNA synthesis of the nurse cells and of the follicle epithelium of growing oocytes is completely blocked by injection of 16 Μg/g body weight Actinomycin. The protein synthesis in the euplasm of a growing oocyte is relatively high, the stage 6 shows a high protein synthesis in spite of the absence of RNA synthesis. The proteins of the ovary are separated electrophoretically on Cellogel-strips. The ratio of the newly-synthetized proteins is determined after incorporation (30 min) of¹⁴C-labelled amino acids. The protein synthesis is stimulated after 4-6 hours treatment with Actinomycin. After a longer influence of the antibiotic, synthesis of the egg-nurse cell unit decreases to below the control value. The ripe oocyte does not react autoradiographically to Actinomycin. Only some fractions of the newly-synthetized euplasmatic proteins are sensitive to treatment with Actinomycin. After intermediate incubation times with Actinomycin new proteins appear in the ovary and their synthesis is demonstrable in part even after treatment for 48 hours. There is no newly-synthetized RNA in the ripe oocyte, which, nevertheless, reacts with Actinomycin to inhibit some and to stimulate some new protein synthesis. In this case the action of the antibiotic is unknown.