Increased degradation rates of protein synthesized in hepatoma cells in the presence of amino acid analogues

Abstract

1. Reuber H35 hepatoma cells incorporate the arginine analogue canavanine into cell protein when arginine is omitted from the incubation medium. 2. By labelling arginine-containing proteins with (14-C)leucine and then canavanine-containing proteins with (3-H)leucine in the same cells, it is possible to measure the degradation of both types of protein during a subsequent ‘chase’ period. With this technique it has been shown that canavanine-containing proteins are degraded at a rate severalfold greater than normal proteins. Comparable results were found when 6-fluorotryptophan was used as an analogue to tryptophan. 3. Control experiments in which the labelling order was reversed or where the animo acid and its analogue were incubated in separate cell cultures support the conclusion that abberrant proteins are rapidly degraded in vivo.