AZO-DYE CARCINOGENESIS: RIBONUCLEOTIDES AND RIBONUCLEASES

THE ESTIMATION OF THE OXIDIZED AND REDUCED FORMS OF THE NICOTINAMIDE NUCLEOTIDES

1. A method is described for the determination of the oxidized and reduced forms of the nicotinamide nucleotides by measuring the rate of the oxygen uptake with an oxygen electrode in a system in which the nucleotide acts as the rate-limiting carrier in a cyclic system. 2. The method permits the measurement of quantities as low as 0.02mug. of NAD(+) or NADH or 0.01mug. of NADP(+) or NADPH. 3. The method permits the measurement of the nucleotides in extracts that contain non-specific reducing substances, coloured compounds or fluorescent materials, e.g. green leaves. 4. The results obtained by the present method are compared with those reported in the literature.

Specificity of certain biochemical derangements in hepatocarcinogenesis

Earlier work on acid-soluble nucleotides and other liver constituents as affected by azo-dye carcinogenesis has now been extended, with trial of ethionine (weakly carcinogenic) and of α-naphthylisothiocyanate (noncarcinogenic). The effects of ethionine feeding on whole-tissue nucleotide levels were not dramatic, and were generally dissimilar to those produced by azo-dye feeding. However a fall in some or all of the purine nucleotides can still be regarded as a feature of hepatocarcinogenesis.A fall in mitochondrial nucleotides, as previously found in azo-dye experiments, likewise occurs with ethionine feeding, but also with α-naphthylisothiocyanate. It is suggested that the latter warrants testing as a co-carcinogen. Unlike azo-dyes, ethionine is without adverse effect on the yield of protein in cytoplasmic particles and (in common with α-naphthylisothiocyanate) it raises the yield of RNA in the supernatant fraction.In liver from ethionine-fed rats and in ethionine-induced hepatomas, the activity of enzymes concerned in UMP synthesis showed a rise more striking than that found with azo-dyes.

Stimulation of pentose phosphate pathway dehydrogenase enzyme activities in ethionine-treated mice

1. Mice treated with ethionine (intraperitoneally, 5mg./day for 4 days or 10mg./day for 3 days) showed a profound loss of hepatic glycogen, a decrease of glycogen synthetase activity, a development of hypoglycaemia, a two- to five-fold increase in the activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase but no change in 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and an earlier manifestation of the solubilization of phosphorylase as compared with glycogen synthetase. The administration of ATP did not prevent these effects. 2. During the early post-injection period (2-3 days) there was a further enhancement of the activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (tenfold) in the liver and a clear elevation of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activity (twofold). Subsequently, the glycogen concentration was restored, followed by an earlier reassociation of glycogen particle with phosphorylase than with glycogen synthetase, along with a disappearance of ethionine effect at about the eighteenth day. 3. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase from both control and ethionine-treated animals showed a marked preference for glucose 6-phosphate as substrate rather than for galactose 6-phosphate, whose rate of oxidation was only 10% of that of the glucose 6-phosphate. 4. Since actinomycin D, puromycin, 5-fluorouracil and dl-p-fluorophenylalanine failed to block the ethionine-enhanced glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, the possibility that new enzyme protein synthesis is responsible for the effect is doubtful.

Effect of ethionine treatment on the activity of enzymes concerned with urea synthesis in rat liver

1. The activities of the enzymes of the urea cycle were measured in rat liver after feeding with a diet containing ethionine for 2 weeks. This treatment resulted in a decrease in the activity of ornithine transcarbamoylase, which fell to half the control value, while arginase increased by about 40%. The remaining enzymes of the urea cycle were unchanged at this time of treatment. These results are discussed in relation to the known effects of ethionine on nucleic acid synthesis. 2. The activities of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase were measured in rat liver after feeding with a diet containing ethionine for 2 or 5 weeks. At the shorter time-period glucose 6-phosphate-dehydrogenase activity was more than doubled but 6-phosphogluconate-dehydrogenase activity remained unchanged. 3. The results are compared with similar measurements made after feeding with diets containing 4-dimethylamino-3'-methylazobenzene for 2 weeks. Striking similarities were found in the pattern of change in the enzyme activities of each of the pathways in the two treatments.

Activities of some enzymes concerned with citrate and glucose metabolism in transplanted rat hepatomas

1. Certain enzymes concerned with citrate and glucose metabolism have been measured in two transplanted rat hepatomas, one induced with ethionine (minimal deviation type) and one induced with dimethylaminoazobenzene. In these hepatomas both citrate-cleavage enzyme and NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase in the soluble fraction of the cell were approximately one-third of the values for normal rat liver. These changes have been discussed in relation to the increased citric acid content of tumours and depressed rate of fatty acid synthesis. 2. The glucose-ATP-phosphotransferase activity was below normal liver values in the ethionine-induced tumour but greater than normal in the dimethylaminoazobenzene-induced hepatoma. The apparent K(m) values for the glucose-ATP phosphotransferases of these hepatomas were approx. 8x10(-5)m; no evidence was found for an enzyme with a high K(m) for glucose equivalent to liver glucokinase. 3. Of the enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway, glucose 6-phosphate-dehydrogenase activity was three to five times as great whereas 6-phosphogluconate-dehydrogenase activity was the same or lower than normal liver in the ethionine-and dimethylaminoazobenzene-induced tumours respectively.

The concentration and biosynthesis of nicotinamide nucleotides in the livers of rats treated with carcinogens

1. The oxidoreduction state and concentration of both NAD and NADP as well as the maximum potential activities of NMN adenylyltransferase and NAD(+) kinase have been measured in the livers of rats treated for 14-28 days with 4-dimethylamino-3'-methylazobenzene, 4-dimethylamino-4'-fluoroazobenzene, alpha-naphthyl isothiocyanate or ethionine and in primary hepatomas induced by 4-dimethylamino-3'-methylazobenzene. 2. The total NAD and total NADP both decreased in the livers of rats treated with either azo-dyes or alpha-naphthyl isothiocyanate but not in those treated with ethionine. The activities of NMN adenylyltransferase and NAD(+) kinase did not alter appreciably after such treatments. 3. In the primary hepatomas the concentrations of both NAD and NADP fell drastically and the activities of NMN adenylyltransferase and NAD(+) kinase fell to about 50% of the control activities. 4. No correlation could be established between the concentrations of the nucleotides and the activities of the enzymes synthesizing them. It appears, however, that a relationship exists between the NAD content of the tissue and the amount of NADP present. 5. The results are discussed with respect to the control of NAD and NADP synthesis by ATP. At the concentrations of NAD normally present in the cell it is suggested that NAD may be a rate-limiting substrate in NADP synthesis.