EFFECT OF ACTINOMYCIN AND INSULIN ON THE METABOLISM OF ISOLATED RAT DIAPHRAGM

Regulation of malic enzyme synthesis by thyroid hormone and glucagon: inhibitor and kinetic experiments

Synthesis of malic enzyme was rapidly and markedly stimulated by the addition of triiodothyronine to chick embryo liver cells in culture. Alpha-Amanitin, an inhibitor of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II, blocked induction. The kinetics of induction and de-induction of malic enzyme synthesis suggested that the most stable event in triiodothyronine induction had a half-life of 18 to 20 h. However, malic enzyme synthesis decayed with a half-life of 2,4 h when transcription was inhibited with alpha-amanitin. Thus a long-lived event in thyroid hormone stimulation of malic enzyme synthesis occurred prior to transcription of a specific messenger RNA (mRNA), presumably malic enzyme mRNA. Malic enzyme synthesis decayed with a half-life of about 2 h when glucagon was added to pre-induced liver cells. The similarity of decay rates after inhibition of transcription with alpha-amanitin or inhibition of malic enzyme synthesis by glucagon suggests that glucagon may inhibit the transcription or processing of a specific mRNA required for malic enzyme synthesis.

Effects of hormones on protein and amino acid metabolism in mammary-gland explants of mice

The effects of insulin, cortisol and prolactin on amino acid uptake and protein biosynthesis were determined in mammary-gland explants from mid-pregnant mice. Insulin stimulated [3H]leucine incorporation into protein within 15 min of adding insulin to the incubation medium. Insulin also had a rapid stimulatory effect on the rate of aminoiso[14C]butyric acid uptake, but it had no effect on the intracellular accumulation of [3H]leucine. Cortisol inhibited the rate of [3H]leucine incorporation into protein during the initial 4h of incubation, but it had no effect at subsequent times. [3H]Leucine uptake was unaffected by cortisol, but amino[14C]isobutyric acid uptake was inhibited after a 4h exposure period to this hormone. Prolactin stimulated the rate of [3H]leucine incorporation into protein when tissues were exposed to this hormone for 4h or more; up to 4h, however, no effect of prolactin was detected. At all times tested, prolactin had no effect on the uptake of either amino[14C]isobutyric acid or [3H]leucine. Incubation with actinomycin D abolished the prolactin stimulation of protein biosynthesis, but this antibiotic did not affect the insulin response. A distinct difference in the mechanism of action of these hormones on protein biosynthesis in the mammary gland is thus apparent.

Stimulation by insulin of RNA synthesis in chick fibroblasts

After the addition of insulin to monolayers of chick fibroblasts previously incubated in serum-free medium, the rates of protein and RNA synthesis increase continuously during the first 8-10 h. Little stimulation of DNA synthesis or mitosis results with the addition of insulin alone in contrast to the addition of fresh serum which stimulates both markedly. The stimulation in RNA synthesis does not result from expansion of the nucleotide pool but is correlated with increases in RNA polymerase activity. All major classes of RNA are stimulated; processing of preribosomal RNA to 28S and 18S and the association of this mature RNA with ribosomes appear to occur normally. The kinetics of stimulation of 5S RNA differ from those of the synthesis of 4S and of ribosomal RNA. Insulin and serum appear to affect the synthesis or stability of certain transcripts differentially.

Regulation of lipogenesis. Stimulation of fatty acid synthesis in vivo and in vitro in the liver of the newly hatched chick

1. A single glucose meal stimulated the incorporation of acetate into fatty acids in liver slices. If the glucose was added in vitro, it had no effect. Fructose and glycerol in vitro markedly stimulated fatty acid synthesis from acetate. Fructose and glycerol probably by-passed a rate-controlling reaction between glucose and triose phosphate. This reaction may have been stimulated by glucose administered in vivo. 2. The stimulation of fatty acid synthesis caused by fructose did not require the synthesis of enzyme, thus indicating that fatty acid-synthesizing enzymes were present in a latent form in the livers from unfed chicks.

The control by insulin of amino acid accumulation in muscle

1. The capacity of insulin to enhance the accumulation by muscle of several amino acids was studied. Reports that threonine uptake is enhanced by insulin were not confirmed, despite its enhanced incorporation into protein. Uptake of beta-alanine and gamma-aminobutyric acid also did not respond to the hormone. A stimulation of accumulation of alanine, histidine and ethionine was observed. 2. The capacity of inhibitors of protein synthesis to reveal a stimulation by insulin of accumulation of several amino acids, hitherto considered unresponsive to insulin in the absence of inhibitor, was confirmed. Cycloheximide was as effective as puromycin. However, two of these amino acids, alanine and histidine, here showed response to insulin in the absence of inhibitor. The presence of cycloheximide was found to enhance uptake of cycloleucine, ethionine and threonine; in its presence insulin enhanced uptake of beta-alanine and alpha-methyltyrosine. 3. It is concluded that the influence of inhibitors of protein synthesis on amino acid accumulation and the response of amino acid accumulation to insulin are not adequately explained on the basis of inhibition of protein synthesis allowing amino acids to accumulate more readily. 4. The technical problems of whether linear rates of incorporation of amino acids into protein really indicate more than one cell pool are discussed and safeguards suggested. That initial rates of incorporation of label into protein are likely to be non-linear is shown.

Role of adenosine monophosphate in regulation of metabolic pathways of perfused rat liver

1. By perfusion of rat livers with 3mm-AMP in the perfusion medium we obtain increased intracellular concentrations of AMP. 2. These high intracellular concentrations of AMP lead to an increased output of glucose and urea into the perfusion medium. 3. The increased output of glucose in livers from fed rats is brought about primarily by an AMP-stimulated breakdown of liver glycogen. In livers from starved rats the increase in glucose output is not as great, reflecting the low contents of glycogen in livers from starved rats. 4. AMP inhibits gluconeogenesis from lactate in perfused livers. In the presence of high concentrations of lactate, however, the counteracting effects of AMP to increase glycogenolysis and to inhibit gluconeogenesis result in little change in the net glucose output. 5. The increased urea output is brought about by increased breakdown of amino acids that are present in the perfusion medium. In livers from starved rats the overall urea production is much higher, indicating increased catabolism of amino acids and other nitrogenous substrates in the absence of carbohydrate substrates. 6. AMP causes an inhibition of incorporation of labelled precursors into protein and nucleic acid. This may result from increased catabolism of precursors of proteins and nucleic acids as reflected by the more rapid breakdown of nitrogenous compounds. In support of this hypothesis, cell-free systems for amino acid incorporation isolated from livers perfused with and without AMP are equally capable of supporting protein synthesis. 7. The labelling pattern of RNA in perfused livers corresponds very closely to those found by pulse-labelling in vivo. AMP in no way alters the qualitative nature of the labelling patterns. 8. We consider these results as supporting evidence for the role of the concentration ratio of AMP to ATP in controlling the metabolic pathways that lead to the formation of ATP.

A direct effect of growth hormone on the incorporation of precursors into proteins and nucleic acids of perfused rat liver

1. The livers of rats were perfused in situ. When the amino acid concentration in the perfusing medium was that present in rat plasma, the addition of growth hormone to the medium stimulated the incorporation of labelled amino acids into liver protein only marginally and not to a statistically significant extent. When, however, the amino acid concentration was raised to three times that present in rat plasma, growth hormone significantly and substantially stimulated amino acid incorporation into protein within 30min. of perfusion of normal rat liver. 2. A significant effect of growth hormone on labelling of normal rat-liver protein was seen with concentrations not much greater than those reported to be present in rat plasma. 3. The labelling of nucleic acids of normal and hypophysectomized rat liver by [(3)H]orotic acid was enhanced by addition of growth hormone to the perfusing medium when normal concentrations of amino acids were used. 4. At elevated concentrations of amino acids, growth hormone stimulated labelling of nucleic acids of hypophysectomized rat liver at 30 and 60min. of perfusion. Under these conditions, nucleic acids of normal rats were labelled to about the same extent in control and hormone-treated livers at 30min. and, because of a fall in the radioactivity of the control livers, there was more labelled nucleic acids in growth-hormone-treated livers at 60min. than in the control livers. 5. Growth hormone, unlike insulin, had no inhibitory effect on the release of glucose by the perfused liver. 6. It is concluded that growth hormone can stimulate the incorporation of precursor into proteins and nucleic acids of liver directly and without the mediation of other organs or of insulin.

The relation of RNA and protein synthesis to the sedimentation of muscle ribosomes: effect of diabetes and insulin

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Stimulation by insulin of the formation of ribonucleic acid and protein by mammary tissues in vitro

1. Insulin is one of the hormones that are essential for successful tissue culture of explants of the mammary glands of pregnant mice. We report here effects of insulin on RNA and protein formation by mammary tissue from pregnant mice and rats incubated in tissue-culture medium 199. 2. The incorporation of [(14)C]adenine over 3hr. into the RNA of explants of the mammary glands of pregnant mice was increased by an average of 68% when the medium contained 5mug. of insulin/ml. Under similar conditions the incorporation into the RNA of slices of the glands of pregnant rats was increased by an average of 61%. Incorporation into the RNA of slices from lactating rats was stimulated to a smaller extent. 3. Adipose tissue was separated from the glands of pregnant mice and the effect of insulin on the incorporation of adenine into its RNA was studied. In whole explants the incorporation of adenine, both with and without insulin, is almost entirely into the RNA of the mammary parenchyma and not of the adipose tissue. 4. Insulin also stimulated by 38% the incorporation of [(14)C]leucine over 3hr. into the proteins of slices of the glands of pregnant rats. It had no significant effect on slices from lactating rats. 5. Actinomycin D (10mug./ml.) decreased the incorporation of [(14)C]adenine into the RNA of slices of the glands of pregnant rats by an average of 97%. Though it also decreased the incorporation of [(14)C]leucine into the proteins by an average of 25%, the percentage stimulation by insulin of this incorporation remained unchanged.

The development of hepatic glucokinase in the neonatal rat

1. Glucokinase and hexokinase activities have been determined in the livers of newborn rats and attempts made to influence in vivo the development of the glucokinase. 2. Glucokinase first appears in rat liver about 16 days after birth and adult activities are reached 10-12 days later. Evidence is presented which indicates that this represents synthesis of new protein. Hexokinase activities remain constant throughout the period of glucokinase development. 3. Both exogenous glucose and insulin are necessary for the natural development of glucokinase, for this is retarded in starved and alloxan-diabetic neonatal rats. 4. The absence of glucokinase during the first 2 weeks of extrauterine life in the rat is not due to lack of insulin. 5. Attempts to advance the time at which glucokinase first appears by infusions of glucose, insulin and chlorpropamide alone and in various combinations have resulted in marginal effects only. 6. When rats are starved for 3 days during the period of glucokinase development and then re-fed, glucokinase is more rapidly synthesized, indicating that the potential ability to synthesize glucokinase continues to develop throughout the period of starvation. 7. Some possible reasons for the comparatively late development of glucokinase are discussed.