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Male Wistar rats each received an i.p injection of the ribosome-inactivating proteins ricin or saporin, or a Ber-H2 (anti-CD30)-saporin immunotoxin at a dose corresponding to three times the LD50 calculated for mice. Animals were killed 24, 48 or 72 h after treatment. Histological examination showed hepatic necrosis in all treated animals, although the sinusoidal lining was affected only in ricin-poisoned rats. The activities of xanthine dehydrogenase (D-form) and oxidase (O-form) were determined spectrophotometrically in liver and serum samples. In ricin-treated animals the liver enzyme was progressively converted from the D- to the O-form, which accounted for more than 60% of total activity after 48 h of poisoning, whilst no change in the xanthine oxidase activity was found in the serum. In the liver of rats treated with free or Ber-H2-conjugated saporin, the D-form was more than 75%, as in normal animals. In the same animals the serum xanthine oxidase activity was up to three-fold control values. The determination of serum xanthine oxidase may prove helpful in the evaluation of liver damage in patients treated with immunotoxins. It may become a diagnostic tool for the differential diagnosis of liver diseases.

A Ber-H2/saporin immunotoxin, consisting of the single-chain ribosome-inactivating protein saporin-S6 and the anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody Ber-H2, gave encouraging results in the treatment of refractory Hodgkin's disease but caused a transient hepatotoxicity. The accumulation of Ber-H2/saporin conjugate and of its components by rat liver parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells was studied. The in vivo concentration of intravenously injected Ber-H2/saporin, saporin or Ber-H2 in nonparenchymal cells was 4-, 25- and 11-fold higher, respectively, than that in parenchymal cells. Adherent in vitro cultured nonparenchymal cells, mostly Kupffer cells, accumulated the proteins approximately 10 times more than parenchymal cells; traces of free saporin were taken up by both types of cells. In vitro protein synthesis by both cell types was inhibited by 50% at nanomolar concentrations of saporin. Nonparenchymal cells were sensitive to Ber-H2/saporin at picomolar concentrations, whereas parenchymal cells were unaffected by the immunotoxin up to 100 pmol/L. The results of the uptake of, and the sensitivity to, the immunotoxin suggest that the sensitivity of liver cells is proportional to the uptake and that the in vivo damage to parenchymal cells is at least in part mediated by the toxicity to nonparenchymal liver cells.

The combined effects of ethanol and hypoxia on the conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase (D form) to xanthine oxidase (O form) and on the leakage of the enzyme from isolated rat hepatocytes was studied. Time-dependent death of cells occurred during incubation in hypoxic conditions. Ethanol (40 mM) had only a moderate effect on viability in aerobiosis, but accelerated the loss of hypoxic cells, which was 96% after 3 h of incubation. In hypoxic conditions, the xanthine oxidase was gradually converted from D into O form. The conversion was complete in 3 h, and was accelerated by 1 mM xanthine or by ethanol, in a concentration-related manner. Hypoxia brought about a progressive leakage of xanthine oxidase from hepatocytes, which was accelerated by ethanol in a concentration-dependent manner. The enzyme found outside hepatocytes was mostly in its O form. The xanthine oxidase of hepatocytes cytosol was converted from D into O form by human plasma or serum. In all cases the conversion could be completely reverted by treatment of the extract with dithiothreitol.

The toxicity of, and the lesions brought about by, several ribosome-inactivating proteins (bryodin, gelonin, momordin, pokeweed antiviral protein from seeds, saporin 6, trichokirin and momorcochin-S), either native, or conjugated to bovine IgG, or polymerized, were studied in the mouse. Severe necrotic liver damage was the main lesion present in animals receiving lethal doses of the proteins. The toxicity of ribosome-inactivating proteins increased after conjugation to IgG or homopolymerization. The toxicity of conjugates to mouse was not predictable from the inhibitory activity on cell-free protein synthesis.

Rats treated with ricin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, at the dose of 1 mug/100 g body weight, developed within 72 hours a severe liver necrosis. Protein synthesis was practically unchanged. The ultrastructural changes that ricin induces in rat liver were investigated. The earliest changes were observed in sinusoidal cells which were progressively damaged until they became necrotic. Only after the development of these lesions hepatocytes appeared to be damaged. The hypothesis is formulated that hepatocyte necrosis is a consequence of the disappearance of sinusoidal cells. This might explain why protein synthesis was unaffected in liver: since ricin exerted its toxic effect on the sinusoidal cells the inhibition was not detectable, these cells being "diluted" by the mass of parenchymal cells. Ricin at the dose of 10 mug/100 g body weight did not affect protein synthesis in the liver, but exerted a marked and precocious inhibition of protein synthesis in the spleen, which is very rich in reticuloendothelial cells. Moreover, a severe necrosis of the red pulp of the spleen was observed in rats poisoned with this dose of ricin.

Rat liver non-parenchymal cells in vivo were found to accumulate 125I-labelled ricin to a much greater extent than parenchymal cells. Similarly, in monolayer cell cultures, the rate of ricin uptake by non-parenchymal Kupffer cells was several times that by parenchymal cells. Evidence is provided also to suggest that ricin is primarily recognized by Kupffer cells via terminal mannose residues in the toxin, whereas ricin uptake by parenchymal cells was consistent with a role of the previously postulated galactosyl-containing cell receptors. Protein synthesis in Kupffer cells in vitro, although observed to occur at a lower rate than in parenchymal cells, was 100--1000-times more sensitive to inhibition by ricin. The selective damage known to be caused to liver sinusoids by ricin, therefore, may reflect both the relative efficiency with which the toxin is taken up by these cells and the extreme sensitivity of protein synthesis in the cells to inhibition by ricin.

Rats were fed a 5 or 20% casein diet that causes liver necrosis unless supplemented with vitamin E or selenite. The following activities were studied in liver subcellar fractions: enzymic formation of lipid peroxides, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, oxidative demethylation of aminopyrine, and incorporation of [14C]leucine into protein (with microsomes); xanthine oxidase (with soluble supernatant); and RNA polymerases I and II (with nuclei). Formation of lipid peroxides was higher in rats fed diets without vitamin E and was not reduced significantly by dietary selenite. The activity of xanthine oxidase was higher in animals fed the 20% casein than in those fed the 5% casein diet; however, a higher activity was observed in the rats fed the latter diet without vitamin E or selenite than in those receiving these supplements. The activity of RNA polymerase I was higher in rats fed the low casein diet. Other activities examined were not affected significantly by the level of dietary casein or by vitamin E or selenits.

1. The xanthine-dehydrogenase activity of chick liver, expressed per mg. of nitrogen, is increased during starvation. 2. Administration of inosine and possibly of adenine has a comparable effect on the xanthine dehydrogenase, and also induces an elevation of the total quantity of enzyme. Hypoxanthine, xanthine, guanine, xanthosine, guanosine and adenosine are ineffective. Cortisone is equally ineffective. 3. The administration of puromycin abolishes the effect of inosine and reduces that of starvation. It is concluded that inosine induces an increased synthesis of xanthine dehydrogenase, whereas during starvation the enzyme is spared with respect to other liver proteins. 4. The hypothesis is formulated that chick-liver xanthine dehydrogenase is an adaptive enzyme, its activity being regulated by inosine or by one of its metabolites.

1. The effects of various ions on the Mg(2+)- and Mn(2+)/ammonium sulphate-activated RNA polymerase activities of isolated liver nuclei were studied. 2. The Mg(2+)-activated RNA polymerase reaction was inhibited by more than 60% by Cd(2+), SeO(3) (2-), Be(2+), Cu(2+), Co(2+), Ca(2+) and La(3+), all at 1mm concentrations. 3. The Mn(2+)/ammonium sulphate-activated RNA polymerase reaction was strongly inhibited by Hg(2+), Cd(2+), Cu(2+) and Ag(+). The effect of Hg(2+), Cd(2+) and Ag(+) was relieved by cysteine or mercaptoethanol. 4. Inhibition by Cu(2+) was not affected by addition of DNA, and was relieved only partially by EDTA or histidine. 5. No changes of RNA polymerase activities were observed in nuclei isolated from the liver of rats treated with copper albuminate.

1. The effect of starvation on the synthesis of ascorbic acid and of xylulose from glucuronolactone and from gulonate has been studied with liver extracts from cats, rabbits, hamsters, mice and guinea pigs. 2. The synthesis of ascorbic acid from glucuronolactone is decreased in all species except cats, and that from gulonate is decreased in hamsters and mice only. 3. The synthesis of xylulose from glucuronolactone was decreased in all species except cats and mice, whereas from gulonate it was enhanced in all the species examined.

1. Preincubation of partially purified rat liver L-type pyruvate kinase at 25 degrees for 10min. causes a marked increase in co-operativity with respect to both the substrate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and the allosteric activator, fructose 1,6-diphosphate. 2. The results are consistent with the existence of two forms of liver L-type pyruvate kinase, designated forms L(A) and L(B). It is postulated that form L(A) has a low K(m) for phosphoenolpyruvate (about 0.1mm) and is not allosterically activated, whereas form L(B) is allosterically activated by fructose 1,6-diphosphate, exhibiting in the absence of the activator sigmoidal kinetics with half-maximal activity at about 1mm-phosphoenolpyruvate. In the presence of fructose 1,6-diphosphate, form L(B) gives Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K(m) less than 0.1mm. It is further postulated that preincubation converts form L(A) into form L(B). 3. The influence of pH on the preincubation effect was studied. 4. The inhibition of pyruvate kinase by Cu(2+) was studied in detail. Though phosphoenolpyruvate and fructose 1,6-diphosphate readily protect the enzyme against Cu(2+) inhibition, little evidence of significant reversal of the inhibition by these compounds could be found. 5. The effects of starvation, fructose feeding and preincubation on the pyruvate kinase activity of crude homogenates of various tissues of the rat were also studied.

1. The synthesis of ascorbic acid in rat-liver extracts is impaired during starvation, and more from glucuronolactone and glucuronate than from gulonate and gulonolactone. 2. The formation of xylulose from gulonate and from gulonolactone is greatly enhanced during starvation, whereas it is decreased from glucuronolactone and from glucuronate. 3. The activity of the enzymes of the glucuronic acid pathway during starvation has been determined in rat-liver preparations. Gulonolactone oxidase is decreased, NAD-linked gulonate dehydrogenase is enhanced, and uronolactonase, aldonolactonase and NADP-linked hexonate dehydrogenase are unchanged. 4. The impairment of ascorbic acid synthesis from gulonate observed during starvation can be accounted for by the depressed activity of gulonolactone oxidase. 5. The cause of the enhanced formation of xylulose has been located in the sedimentable fraction of liver homogenate. 6. The hypothesis is formulated of an increased utilization of the glucuronic acid pathway during starvation.

1. The conditions affecting the activity of RNA polymerase in isolated rat liver nuclei were studied with Mg(2+) or Mn(2+) as activating ions. 2. The enzyme assayed with Mg(2+) and at low ionic strength is saturated by a lower concentration of nucleotide substrates than if assayed with Mn(2+) at low ionic strength or with either ion at high ionic strength. 3. At low and at high ionic strength the incorporation of AMP is affected in a similar way by variations in the temperature of incubation. Preincubation at 37 degrees impairs the AMP incorporation. 4. Heparin stimulates the RNA polymerase activity in the presence of Mn(2+). 5. Both ammonium sulphate and heparin ;restart' the reaction if added after 15min., the effect being more marked with ammonium sulphate than with heparin, and also more marked in the presence of Mn(2+) than of Mg(2+). 6. alpha-Amanitin abolishes the effect of ammonium sulphate and of heparin.

1. Rat liver xanthine oxidase type D (NAD(+)-dependent) and chick liver xanthine oxidase are inhibited by NADH, which competes with NAD(+). 2. The addition of a NADH-reoxidizing system in the assay of these enzyme activities is proposed. 3. Rat liver xanthine oxidase type O (oxygen-dependent) is not affected by NADH.

1. The activity of l-asparaginase was very low in the liver of newborn rats and mice, and increased within a few days of birth. 2. In rats, but not in mice, the enzyme activity was higher in females than in males, was enhanced by administration of oestradiol, and was decreased by gonadectomy. 3. The enzyme activity decreased in mice starved or fed on a low-protein diet; in rats it was enhanced by starvation, by feeding them on a high-protein diet, or by administration of l-asparagine. 4. The asparaginase activity was decreased in regenerating liver, and was almost absent in the Morris hepatoma 5123.

1. It has been confirmed that the xanthine-dehydrogenase activity of chick liver is enhanced by starvation and by administration of inosine; the effects of these treatments are not additive. 2. Inosine has no effect when given to chicks depleted of the enzyme by feeding a low-protein diet. 3. Actinomycin D prevents the effect of inosine, but itself enhances the activity of xanthine dehydrogenase. 4. The xanthine-dehydrogenase activity is unchanged after addition of orotic acid to the diet, and is stimulated by injection of inorganic iron.

1. alpha-Amanitin inhibits in vitro the RNA polymerase solubilized from isolated rat liver nuclei. 2. In contrast with previous observations with whole nuclei, the inhibition occurs approximately to the same extent in the presence and in the absence of ammonium sulphate. 3. Evidence is presented that the toxin acts by interacting with the enzyme itself and not with DNA or other components.

1. The activity of NAD pyrophosphorylase is lower in nuclei isolated from regenerating rat liver than in normal nuclei, and this is due to leakage of the enzyme from the nuclei during the isolation. 2. The NAD pyrophosphorylase activity is lower in liver nuclei from newborn rats, and from rats on a protein-free diet, but no leakage occurs in these cases. 3. Poisoning with alpha-amanitin brings about a transient enhancement of NAD pyrophosphorylase activity in mouse liver nuclei. 4. No changes of enzyme activity were observed after 72hr. starvation, administration of actinomycin D or infection with MHV3 virus.

1. Injection of alpha-amanitin to mice causes a decreased incorporation of [6-(14)C]-orotic acid into liver RNA in vivo. 2. The activity of RNA polymerase activated by Mn(2+) and ammonium sulphate is greatly impaired in liver nuclei isolated from mice poisoned with alpha-amanitin, and is inhibited by the addition of the same toxin in vitro. 3. The activity of the Mg(2+)-activated RNA polymerase is only slightly affected by alpha-amanitin either administered to mice or added in vitro.

1. The ;xanthine oxidase' activity of rat liver supernatant, most of which behaves as an NAD(+)-dependent dehydrogenase (type D) can be rapidly converted into an oxidase (type O) by thiol reagents such as tetraethylthiuram disulphide, copper sulphate, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), N-ethylmaleimide and p-hydroxymercuribenzoate. Treatment with copper sulphate, if prolonged, leads to almost complete inactivation of the enzyme. The effect of these reagents is prevented by dithioerythritol, and in all cases but that of N-ethylmaleimide is reversed by the same thiol. 2. Dithioerythritol prevents and reverses the conversion of xanthine oxidase from type D into type O brought about by storage of rat liver supernatant at -20 degrees C, preincubation under anaerobic conditions, treatment with carbon or with diethyl ether, and reverses, but does not prevent, the conversion obtained by preincubation of the whole liver homogenate. 3. Conversion of the enzyme from type D into type O is effected by preincubation of rat liver supernatant with the sedimentable fraction from rat liver but not from chick or pigeon liver. The xanthine dehydrogenase activity of chick liver supernatant is not changed into an oxidase by preincubation with the sedimentable fraction from rat liver. 4. The enzyme activity of rat liver supernatant is converted from type D into type O during purification of the enzyme: the purified enzyme can be reconverted into type D by dithioerythritol. 5. The enzyme appears as an oxidase in the supernatant of rat heart, intestine, spleen, pancreas, lung and kidney. The enzyme of all organs but intestine can be converted into a dehydrogenase by dithioerythritol.

1. The thymidine kinase activity of rat liver is greatly enhanced on addition of phospholipase C to the assay mixture. 2. Most of the thymidine kinase activity of the liver is recovered in the mitochondrial and in the impure ;nuclear' fractions. No activity was detected in purified nuclei prepared in high-density sucrose. 3. A substantial thymidine kinase activity could be detected, with the aid of phospholipase C, in all rat tissues examined.