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Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a current health issue since the disease often leads to hepatocellular carcinoma; however, the pathogenesis of the disease has still not been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the pathophysiological changes observed in hepatic lesions in STAM mice, a novel NASH model. STAM mice, high fat-diet (HFD) fed mice, and streptozotocin (STZ) treated mice were prepared, and changes over time, such as biological parameters, mRNA expression, and histopathological findings, were evaluated once animal reached 5, 7, and 10 weeks of age. STZ mice presented with hyperglycemia and an increase in oxidative stress in immunohistochemical analyses of Hexanoyl-lysine: HEL from 5 weeks, with fibrosis in the liver also being observed from 5 weeks. HFD mice presented with hyperinsulinemia from 7 weeks and the slight hepatosteatosis was observed at 5 weeks, with changes significantly increasing until 10 weeks. STAM mice at 10 weeks showed significant hepatic changes, including hepatosteatosis, hypertrophic hepatocytes, and fibrosis, indicating pathological changes associated with NASH. These results suggested that the increase in oxidative stress with hyperglycemia triggered hepatic lesions in STAM mice, and insulin resistance promoted lesion formation with hepatic lipid accumulation. STAM mice may be a useful model for elucidating the pathogenesis of NASH with diabetes.

Maternal low-protein (MLP) diet can lead to hepatic steatosis, which only develops with ageing. It is still unclear whether the young offspring show any signs of past exposure to prenatal adverse conditions. We hypothesized that early nutritional insult would first affect the dynamic responsiveness to nutritional challenges rather than the static state. We analyzed the transcriptome and metabolome profiles of the hepatic response to fasting/refeeding in young male mice offspring to identify changes induced by early gestational MLP diet. Restricted MLP exposure strictly to early gestation was achieved by the embryo transfer method. As a result, the fasting-induced upregulation of genes related to long-chain fatty acid metabolism and of stress response genes related to protein folding were significantly diminished in MLP pups. Lipid profiling after fasting showed that the hepatic signature of triacylglycerols was shifted to longer acyl-chains and higher saturation by the MLP diet. Bioinformatic analyses suggested that these phenomenological changes may be partially linked to the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α (PPARα) pathway. Taken together, early gestational MLP diet affected the hepatic dynamic response to nutritional stress in seemingly healthy young offspring, accompanied with partial deterioration of PPARα action.

Aim: To investigate the histological features of the liver in spontaneously diabetic Torii (SDT) fatty rats compared with age-matched Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats., Methods: Female SDT Lepr(fa) (SDT fatty) rats and age-matched SD rats were fed ad libitum. Body weight and biochemical parameters, such as serum glucose, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels as well as fatty acid and TG accumulation in the liver were evaluated at 8 wk of age in the non-fasting state and at 8-wk intervals from 8 to 40 wk of age. Histopathological examinations of the liver were performed using hematoxylin and eosin and Sirius Red staining as well as double staining for ED-1 and toluidine blue. The expression of genes involved in TG synthesis, inflammation, and fibrosis was examined in the liver., Results: SDT fatty rats showed significantly increased body weight compared with SD rats. Serum glucose, TG, and TC levels were significantly higher in SDT fatty rats compared with SD rats. The serum AST and ALT levels in SDT fatty rats were significantly elevated at 8 wk of age compared with the levels in SD rats. Hepatic TG content was marked in SDT fatty rats from 8 to 32 wk of age. Histopathologically, severe hepatosteatosis accompanied by inflammation was observed at 8 wk of age, and fibrosis started to occur at 32 wk of age. Furthermore, Sirius Red and ED-1 staining were increased in the liver at 32 wk of age. Hepatic gene expression related to TG synthesis, inflammation and fibrosis tended to increase in SDT fatty rats compared with SD rats, and the gene expression related to TG secretion was decreased in SDT fatty rats compared with SD rats., Conclusion: Female SDT fatty rats have the potential to become an important animal model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Placental glutathione transferase (GST-P) is specifically expressed during rat haptocarcinogenesis, and has been used as a reliable tumor marker for experimental hepatocarcinogenesis in the rat. The regulation of this tumor marker gene may be associated with the process of carcinogeneisis. By elucidating the mechanisms of such tumor marker gene expression, we may shed light on the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis. We analyzed the regulation of the GST-P gene and found that the strong enhancer element GPE1 (GST-P enhancer-1) specifically regulates the GST-P gene by interacting with specific transcription factors in normal liver and during hepatocarcinogenesis. In particular, C/EBPalpha was required for the suppression of GST-P gene in normal liver, whereas the Nrf2/MafK heterodimer was required for the activation of this gene during hepatocarcinogenesis. In this Mini-Review, we describe the positive and negative regulatory mechanisms in the pre-cancerous and normal liver, respectively.

In an earlier study, we showed that estradiol (E2) inhibits proliferation and transformation in cultured rat hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and that the actions of E2 are mediated through estrogen receptors (ERs). This study reports on an investigation of the cellular localization of ER subtypes ERalpha and ERbeta using immunohistochemistry in experimental fibrotic liver rats and of each ER subtype expression in cultured rat HSCs by evaluating the produced mRNA and protein. The results indicate that high levels of ERbeta expression and low or no levels of ERalpha expression were observed in normal and fibrotic livers and in quiescent and activated HSCs from both males and females. The specificity of E2-mediated antiapoptotic induction through the ERbeta was shown by dose-dependent inhibition by the pure ER antagonist ICI 182,780 in HSCs which were undergoing early apoptosis. These findings demonstrate for the first time that rat HSCs possess functional Erbeta, but not Eralpha, to respond directly to E2 exposure., (Copyright 2001 Academic Press.)

Rat hepatocarcinogenesis-related transcription factor (HTF) was earlier identified as a b-Zip transcription factor in chemically induced rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by cDNA subtraction, and its structure was found to be different from that of the conventional b-Zip proteins. We investigated htf gene expression in rat tissues by Northern analysis and found that HTF expression was ubiquitous but was enriched in the liver. HTF expression increased concomitantly with HCC development in rat liver, and the HTF-containing DNA-binding factor also increased. Stimulated HTF gene expression also was observed in rat regenerating livers. From the results of various assays, X-box-binding protein 1/Tax-response element binding factor 5 was suggested to be a human homologue of rat HTF. In humans, HTF gene expression was also abundant in the liver and was revealed to be specifically stimulated in HCCs, but not in other types of cancers. To our knowledge, HTF is the first example of a liver-enriched transcription factor that exhibits HCC-associated gene expression. Injection of anti-HTF antibody decreased the growth rate of cultured HCC cells. Consequently, HTF is thought to participate in hepatocyte growth as well as in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Glutathione S-transferase P-form (GST-P) mRNA levels and distribution were sequentially analyzed by in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISH) in rat livers during and after induction of preneoplastic foci and nodules in the Solt-Farber model. Dot blot analysis showed GST-P transcripts in the liver to be elevated coincidental with the development of GST-P-positive lesions. GST-P ISH indicated that the majority of early foci and some of the resultant lesions showed uniformly high levels of GST-P mRNA. However, the majority of foci and nodules after completion of the selection regimen exhibited a progressive loss of staining for GST-P mRNA. Similar results were obtained for gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) transcripts, indicating that phenotypic reversion is controlled by factors operating at the level of gene expression in both cases. Expression of GST-P mRNA was high in all hepatocellular carcinoma samples, whereas the levels of GGT transcripts varied considerably, so that the two enzymes showed a degree of independence in their regulation. The present data for transcription suggest that GST-P is a stable marker of preneoplastic and neoplastic cells, not only at the protein but also at the mRNA level, throughout hepatocarcinogenesis in the rat. The reason why transcription of GST-P mRNA is switched off as part of the reversion to a normal organization remains to be elucidated.

Glutathione transferase P (GST-P) is specifically induced in rat liver and kidney by lead cation. The increase of GST-P mRNA after lead administration is blocked by actinomycin D, suggesting that GST-P production by lead is regulated at the transcriptional level. To further determine which part of the flanking region of the GST-P gene has the lead-responsive cis-element in vivo, we utilized transgenic rats with five different constructs having GST-P and/or chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase coding sequence. We studied the effect of lead on these transgenic rats and on transfected NRK (normal rat kidney) cells and found that GST-P induction by lead is indeed regulated at the transcriptional level and that the GST-P enhancer I (GPEI) enhancer is an essential cis-element required for the activation of the GST-P gene by lead. GPEI consists of two AP-1 (c-Jun/c-Fos heterodimer) site-like sequences that are palindromically arranged and can bind AP-1, c-jun mRNA in the liver increased after lead administration and GST-P, and c-Jun had patchy expression in the same hepatocytes 24 h after lead exposure. These results suggest that activation of the GST-P gene by lead is mediated in major part by enhancer GPEI and that AP-1 may be involved at least partially. GPEI has been shown to have essential sequence information for the trans-activation of the GST-P gene during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis of the rat (Morimura, S., Suzuki, T., Hochi, S., Yuki, A., Nomura, K., Kitagawa, T., Nagatsu, I., Imagawa, M., and Muramatsu, M. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90, 2065-2068; Suzuki, T., Imagawa, M., Hirabayashi, M., Yuki, A., Hisatake, K., Nomura, K., Kitagawa, T., and Muramatsu, M. (1995) Cancer Res. 55, 2651-2655). The present study establishes that the same enhancer element does operate in the activation of the GST-P gene by lead regardless of the trans-activators involved.

We constructed a complementary DNA (cDNA) library from mRNAs of rat liver induced by an initiating dose of a chemical carcinogen, N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN). Using a differential hybridization with cDNA probes prepared from mRNAs of control and DEN-treated rat liver, eight cDNAs of which expression was altered by an acute single dose of DEN were cloned. Colony hybridization and nucleotide sequencing demonstrated six independent cDNA clones. These were known genes encoding liver-specific proteins such as microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH; epoxide hydrolase, EC 3.3.2.3), albumin, transthyretin, CYP2B7, CYP1A2 (microsomal cytochrome P450, EC 1.14.14.1) and argininosuccinate synthetase (EC 6.3.4.5). Quantitative Northern blot hybridization was carried out to measure the mRNA content of DEN-initiated rat liver at various times after DEN injection. We also analyzed the expression of glutathione transferase P (GST-P; glutathione transferase, EC 2.5.1.18), c-jun and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase, EC 1.2.1.12). A single injection of DEN increased the mRNA levels of mEH, beta-actin and c-jun markedly and those of GST-P and GAPDH moderately, but decreased the mRNA levels of CYP2B7, CYP1A2, albumin and argininosuccinate synthetase. Transthyretin mRNA content was not changed, indicating that it was a false-positive clone picked up by chance. These dramatic changes in liver gene expression after acute exposure to DEN are discussed in terms of acute reactions to the massive damage to the DNA and self-defense mechanisms against toxic xenobiotics.

Glutathione transferase P (GST-P) gene is specifically and highly activated during rat chemical hepatocarcinogenesis. We have previously cloned the GST-P gene and have identified putative regulatory regions. To further explore regulatory mechanisms, deletion constructs of the GST-P gene fused to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) structural gene were introduced into primary cultured rat hepatocytes by electroporation, and their activity was determined. The expression of the GST-P-CAT fusion gene is quite low in these cells as compared to that in both a rat fibroblast cell line, 3Y1 cells, and a rat hepatoma cell line, dRLh84. The presence of the strong enhancer GPEI did not elicit any enhancing activity at its original position, or when it was located 3' of the CAT gene, although this element does enhance CAT activity significantly when located adjacent to the promoter. Cotransfection of neither c-jun nor c-fos expression vector, nor both vectors, could enhance the CAT activity, even though GPEI consists of two phorbol ester response element-like sites. Furthermore, the expression of jun family gene was not correlated with GST-P gene expression either in primary cultured hepatocytes or in hepatoma cell lines.

Defense mechanisms in rat liver against depletion of glutathione (GSH) and cellular injuries induced by ethylene oxide (EO) were studied. Rats were exposed to EO under either high dose (1300 ppm for 4 hr, once) or low dose (500 ppm for 6 hr, three times a week for 6 weeks) conditions. The hepatic content of GSH decreased dramatically after EO treatment, probably due to detoxication of EO. After the high dose treatment the hepatic GSH content fell by 90% of the control values but recovered within 10 to 15 hr. EO reacts directly with a variety of cellular macromolecules but all rats survived the exposure. Since the metabolites of EO are ethylene glycol and GSH-conjugates, the enzymatic activities of epoxide hydrolase and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were determined. Only GST activity was found to occur after low dose chronic exposure. The defense mechanism at mRNA level was investigated using probes for GST and several heat-shock proteins (hsps). Enhanced accumulation of GST mRNA was detectable during the recovery period of rats after both high and low dose exposure to EO. Interestingly, both hsp32 (less than 40-fold) and hsp90 (less than 3-fold) mRNA increased after high dose exposure but the mRNA level of one of the major heat-shock proteins, hsp70, did not change under these conditions. Diethylmaleate, which is known to be a GSH depleter in liver, induced hsp32 mRNA only in rat liver, while hsp70 and hsp90 mRNA levels did not change when GSH was depleted. These results suggest that individual heat-shock proteins are induced in different ways under unphysiological conditions such as EO exposure.

Glutathione transferase P gene becomes highly and constitutively expressed in the course of chemical hepatocarcinogenesis of the rat. To understand the mechanism of this specific gene activation and also to obtain an insight into the general mechanism of tumor marker expression, we have been studying the regulation of a cloned gene of this enzyme. Analysis of the GST-P cDNA clone revealed that this enzyme consists of 209 amino acid residues and that homologies with other isozymes, Ya and Yc, were both about 32%. The rat GST-P gene consists of seven exons and six introns. Multiple regulatory elements were found in the 5' flanking region including two TPA responsive elements (TRE), a GC box, viral enhancer, core-like elements, and a silencer. This gene was activated by a tumor promoter TPA in certain cell lines. The rat cDNA clone or a TRE binding protein, c-jun oncogene, was isolated and characterized. Analysis of the tissue distribution and expression during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis of the c-jun mRNA suggests that the GST-P gene is regulated, at least in part, by the c-jun product. Further investigation of the mechanism of expression of GST-P, particularly in terms of the interaction with c-jun products, is now underway.

We determined the coding nucleotide sequence of the mRNA for a 3-methylcholanthrene-inducible cytochrome P-450, P-450d, of rat liver by sequence analysis of cloned cDNAs. The predicted amino acid sequence of the cytochrome is composed of 513 amino acids, and its NH2-terminal sequence of 30 amino acids completely coincides with that reported from analysis of the purified cytochrome P-450d. The amino acid composition of the deduced sequence also agrees well with that determined from the purified protein. Computer-aided analysis was carried out to compare the complete primary structures of five species of cytochrome P-450, two molecular species of phenobarbital-inducible rat liver cytochrome P-450 (P-450b and P-450e), phenobarbital-inducible rabbit liver cytochrome P-450LM2, 3-methylcholanthrene-inducible rat liver cytochrome P-450d, and camphor-hydroxylating P-450 of Pseudomonas putida (P-450CAM). It is concluded therefrom that the time of divergence between cytochrome P-450b (P-450e) and P-450d is much earlier than that of branching between phenobarbital-inducible cytochromes P-450 of rat and rabbit. One highly conserved cysteine-containing region that is close to the COOH terminus is found in all of these cytochrome P-450 sequences, indicating that the heme-binding site is the cysteine residue in this region.

To investigate the affinity of glucocorticoid (GC) to its receptor, the binding of [3H]hydrocortisone 17-butyrate 21-propionate ([3H]HBP) and [3H]dexamethasone ([3H]DEX) in rat liver was analyzed kinetically. Scatchard analysis of [3H]hydrocortisone ([3H]HC) binding yielded a curvilinear plot with upward concavity with high and low affinities. The dissociation constant (Kd) value of high affinity was 1.9 nM and of low affinity 68.7 nM. A Scatchard plot of [3H]HBP binding showed a straight line with high affinity. The Kd value was 9.8 nM. The Kd values for the low affinity site of HC were in good agreement with the Ki values obtained from displacement experiments of [3H]DEX and [3H]HBP binding. The Ki values of HC for [3H]DEX and [3H]HBP were 51.9 and 42.3 nM respectively. The association rate constant for HBP to the GC receptor was 2.9 times lower than that for HC. The dissociation rate constant for HBP was 6.1 to 8.3 times lower than that for HC. The Kd values for [3H]HBP (9.5 nM) and [3H]HC (30.0 nM) obtained from the above two rate constants were approximately the same as the Ki and Kd values (in the case of HC, the value of the low affinity site). These results suggest that esterification of the hydroxyl group(s) in the side chain of GC by butyrate and propionate increased the affinity to the GC receptor, and that a decrease in the dissociation rate from the receptor caused the increase in the affinity to the GC receptor.

Biochemical mechanisms underlying the development of alcoholic fatty liver was investigated. Acute ethanol (EtOH) administration for 3 days by an inhalation method, and continuous EtOH treatments by feeding with liquid diet or drinking water containing EtOH induced a significant increase of hepatic triglycerides (TG). A small but significant increase of TG was also observed in the blood serum. Although hepatic acetyl CoA carboxylase activity, measured in the presence and absence of citrate, was not altered by either acute or chronic EtOH administrations, fatty acid synthetase and malic enzyme activities in the liver were increased by continuous EtOH administration, but not in the acutely EtOH-treated animals. The incorporations of [14C]palmitate and [14C]acetate into hepatic RG were also increased significantly in animals treated continuously with EtOH. The lipoprotein lipase activity in adipose tissues was activated by both acute and continuous EtOH treatments, whereas lipase activity in adipose tissues and the epinephrine-stimulated and cyclic AMP-mediated release of free fatty acid (FFA) from this tissue were not altered by these treatments. These results indicate that acute alcoholic fatty liver is caused mostly by the increased mobilization of FFA from peripheral adipose tissues via the activation of lipoprotein lipase, whereas alcoholic fatty liver induced by continuous EtOH administration involves the increased synthesis of FFA due to the activation of fatty acid synthetase and malic enzyme in the liver in addition to the increased mobilization of peripheral FFA.

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase I (or A) was purified from rat liver nucleoli. DNA was effectively removed from the solubilized enzyme with a defined concentration of polyethyleneglycol. The enzyme was purified further with successive DEAE-Sephadex and phosphocellulose column chromatography followed by glycerol gradient centrifugation. The procedure yielded an electrophoretically homogeneous enzyme with a specific activity 400 times that of the nucleolar extracts. The recovery of the activity was approximately 20%. The RNA polymerase I eluted as a single peak from DEAE-Sephadex was separated into two distinct peaks by a phosphocellulose column. The first peak eluting at about 0.12 M ammonium sulfate was designated as RNA polymerase IA and the second peak eluting at about 0.18 M as RNA polymerase IB. In normal rat liver nucleoli IA enzyme comprised approximately 20% of the total RNA polymerase I activity and the IB enzyme comprised approximately 80%. On sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, enzyme IB contained five subunits with molecular weights of 195000 (a), 130000 (b), 65000 (c), 40000 (d), and 19000 (e) at nearly equimolar amounts. The calculated molecular weight of the enzyme (449000) agreed well with that predicted from the sedimentation coefficient of the enzyme. Enzyme IA contained identical subunits except that subunit c was absent. Preliminary studies could not demonstrate any significant differences in template specificity between IA and IB enzyme.

After having defined reliable assay conditions for free and template-bound RNA polymerase I activities, we examined in detail the effect of thyroid hormone in vivo on nucleolar RNA polymerase I in rat liver. The enzyme activity decreased markedly in the hypothyroid state produced by either thyroidectomy, hypophysectomy or by administration of propylthiouracil (PTU). One large dose (25 microgram/100 g body weight) of T3 given intraperitoneally caused a rapid recovery of the enzyme activity within 24 h either in the presence or absence of the pituitary. The enzyme activity of both free and chromatin-bound enzyme changed in parallel throughout. A similar recovery was noted after daily subcutaneous injections of a physiological dose (1 microgram/100 g body weight) of T3 for about 3 weeks. Analyses of subfractions of the enzyme indicated that only IB-type enzyme (the enzyme fraction containing the whole set of subunits) changed in response to thyroid hormone action, also irrespective of the presence or absence of the pituitary. The possibility that thyroid hormone is a major physiological regulator of the synthesis of RNA polymerase I in rat liver is discussed.

Cytochrome P-450 mRNA has been partially purified from membrane-bound polysomes of the livers of phenobarbital-treated rats by SDS-phenol-chloroform extraction, followed by poly(U)-Sepharose chromatography and by centrifugation through a sucrose density gradient. Cytochrome P-450 mRNA activity was detected near 18S in the sucrose density gradient, accounting for approximately 5% of total mRNA activity on the basis of [3H]leucine incorporation in an in vitro translation system of wheat germ. Complementary DNA (cDNA) which had been synthesized on the partially purified mRNA by AMV reverse transcriptase was inserted into the Pst I site of pBR 322. After bacterial transformation, and in situ colony hybridization using [32P]cDNA as a probe, a colony carrying cytochrome P-50 cDNA sequence was identified by a hybridization-arrested translation assay. Sequence complementarity of the inserted DNA sequence to cytochrome P-450 mRNA was further confirmed by a positive hybridization-translation assay. The mRNA isolated from the partially purified mRNA preparation by hybridizing it with the recombinant DNA (III-8-10) showed enriched synthesis of a protein product whose apparent molecular weight was consistent with that of cytochrome P-450, and which was immunoprecipitable with anti-cytochrome P-450 antibody.

Glucocorticoid binding to cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions and glucocorticoid-receptor complex binding to the nuclear fraction were investigated using rat liver. The glucocorticoid-receptor complex binding to the nuclear fraction was temperature-dependent, saturable, small in amount and of high affinity. The affinity and number of the glucocorticoid-receptor complex binding to the nuclear fraction were altered according to the glucocorticoid. Both the Bmax of nuclear glucocorticoid-receptor complex binding and the affinity of glucocorticoid to the cytoplasmic fraction were correlated with the relative anti-inflammatory potencies of glucocorticoids reported by Hynes and Murad (1980) and Fried et al. (1958). These results suggest that the number of nuclear binding sites of the glucocorticoid-receptor complex depends on the ligand steroid which is bound to the receptor of the cytoplasmic fraction and may be involved in physiological and pharmacological potencies of the glucocorticoid in addition to the affinity of the glucocorticoid to the receptor.

Characteristics of the specific binding of hydrocortisone 17-butyrate 21-propionate (HBP) to the cytoplasmic fraction from rat liver were investigated. The inhibition constant (Ki) of HBP for the site of 3H-dexamethasone (3H-DM) binding was approximately equal to the value of DM and significantly smaller than that of hydrocortisone (HC). The maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) and dissociation constant (Kd) for 3H-HBP were also approximately equal to those for 3H-DM. The Scatchard and Hofstee plots analyses of 3H-HC binding indicated that the HC binding sites consisted of three components with different affinity, while that of 3H-DM had only one site with an intermediate affinity. HBP and hydrocortisone 17-butyrate (HB) bound to other binding sites of HC in addition to the site for DM. The IC50 value for synthetic glucocorticoids determined from the inhibition curves of 3H-HC binding in the first phase agreed with the values determined by the displacement study of 3H-DM binding. Furthermore, the first phase of HBP in the inhibition curve of 3H-HC binding disappeared from the curve, and only the second phase remained following the addition of DM. These results indicate that the esterification of C-17 and C-21 OH increases the affinity of the binding site for synthetic glucocorticoid and attenuates the affinity for the other binding sites of HC.

RNA polymerase I (or A) was extracted from nuclear, nucleolar and nucleoplasmic fractions, and resolved into IA and IB forms on a phosphocellulose column. During the course of cycloheximide treatment, the activity of RNA polymerase IB decreased in the nucleoli with concomitant increase in the nucleoplasmic fraction, suggesting strongly that cycloheximide induced specific leakage of IB enzyme from the nucleolus. The activity of IA enzyme did not change in the nucleoli. When nucleoli were incubated in the presence of actinomycin D, all the IA enzyme activity and approximately 30% of the total IB enzyme activity were released in the incubation medium, whereaa 70% of IB activity remained associated with the nucleolar pellet where no IA activity was detected. The enzyme which was released into the incubation medium was tentatively designated as free or unbound RNA polymerase I and that which was associated with the nucleolar pellet as template-bound enzyme. During the treatment with cycloheximide, the activity of bound enzyme, which contained exclusively IB form, decreased rapidly, with kinetics almost identical to that of nucleolar RNA synthesis in vivo. The activity of free enzyme did not change appreciably. At 2 h after partial hepatectomy, IB enzyme activity in the free RNA polymerase fraction increased to almost twice the control, while the bound enzyme activity did not increase appreciably until 4h of regeneration. Enhancement of nucleolar RNA synthesis in vivo was not apparent at 2 h but became significant by 4 h after partial hepatectomy. These results strongly suggest that (a) the above-mentioned procedure is actually fractionating RNA polymerase I into free and bound forms, (b) RNA polymerase IB is the transcriptionally active form in vivo, (c) RNA polymerase IB exists in excess in the nucleoli, but the amount of bound IB molecules, which are engaged in transcription in vivo, must be determined by some other factor(s) than the mere concentration of IB enzyme in the nucleolus, and (d) IA form is not an artifact of isolation but is always present in vivo at a certain amount, although the exact nature of this molecule is not known at present.

The mutagenicities of twelve N-nitrosamines were tested on Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and Escherichia coli WP2 uvrA/pKM101 in the presence of rat liver S9 or hamster liver S9 by "preincubation" and "pour-plate" assays. The following eleven N-nitrosamines were mutagenic: N-nitroso-N-dimethylamine; N-nitroso-N-diethylamine; N-nitroso-N-di-n-propylamine; N-nitroso-N-di-n-butylamine; N-nitroso-N-methyl-n- amylamine ; N-nitroso-piperidine; N-nitrosomorpholine; N-nitroso-N-methyl-piperazine; N-nitroso-N-methyl-benzylamine; N-nitroso-N-methyl- phenylamine and N-nitroso-N-phenyl-benzylamine. N-Nitroso-N-diphenylamine was not mutagenic. E. coli WP2 uvrA/pKM101 was more sensitive than S. typhimurium TA100 to the mutagenic actions of N-nitroso-dialkyl amines, N-nitroso- aklyl -aryl amines and N-nitroso- diaryl amines, but S. typhimurium TA100 was more sensitive to those of N-nitroso-cyclic amines. Hamster liver S9 was better than rat liver S9 for metabolic activation of N-nitrosamines, and the preincubation step enhanced the mutagenicities of N-nitrosamines.

Administration of 2-acetylaminofluorene to rats for 12 weeks induces hyperplastic nodules (HPNs) and later well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in the liver. Total cellular proteins from normal liver, HPN, and HCC were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with a high resolution. Several hundred polypeptides were well resolved as seen by Coomassie blue staining, forming a reproducible and characteristic pattern for each tissue. The polypeptide patterns were very similar among normal liver, HPN, and HCC. Especially the proteins of HPN and HCC were almost indistinguishable. These neoplastic lesions, however, were clearly different from control liver in that a new spot p35-6.6 (designated by molecular weight X 10(-3) and pl) appeared, and five polypeptides, p57-6.9, p57-6.7, p26-6.9, p26-6.6, p26-6.4, increased dramatically in amount as compared with normal liver. These last three spots were found to be a new type of glutathione S-transferase as judged from the specific binding to the antibody. The same changes in polypeptide pattern were found in HCCs induced by other chemical carcinogens, diethylnitrosamine and 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene, but not in regenerating and neonatal livers. Fetal liver showed a rather different pattern than adult liver, but only p26-6.6 was increased among the spots characteristic of HPN and HCC. Protein phosphorylation was also examined for these cells by incubating tissue slices with 32PO4. After alkali treatment of the gels to eliminate serines phosphorylation, several dozens of phosphoproteins were clearly detected. The patterns of the labeled spots were again very similar among control liver, HPN, and HCC. Only the intensity of a spot designated p57-6.6 increased markedly in both HPN and HCC. This spot was further resolved by an expanded pH gradient into four distinct spots, the major one of which contained phosphothreonine. Similar changes in phosphorylation were noted in hepatomas induced by diethylnitrosamine and 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene but not in regenerating, fetal, and neonatal livers. These changes are discussed in terms of gene expression relevant to malignant transformation of hepatic cells.

Hydrocortisone (HC) in rat liver cytoplasmic fraction was bound to three different binding sites with high, medium and low affinity. Dissociation constants (Kd) were approx. 2.1, 22 and 208 nM; and the densities of these binding sites were about 40, 50 and 10% of total number of binding sites, respectively. The binding site for dexamethasone (DM) of the cytoplasmic fraction was the medium affinity one among these three components. The maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) of HC and DM was significantly increased by adrenalectomy. The Bmax of HC was about twice as great as that of DM in normal and adrenalectomized rat liver. DM inhibited 3H-HC binding in a dose-dependent manner but inhibition did not exceed 50% in either normal or adrenalectomized rats. Following adrenalectomy, the Bmax of the medium affinity-site for HC was significantly increased, while the high affinity component disappeared. By adding DM to the cytoplasmic fraction of adrenalectomized rat liver in vitro and in vivo, the Bmax of the medium affinity-site was significantly decreased, and a high affinity component of HC was revealed with a significant increase in the number of binding sites. These results indicate that the binding site for DM is one component of the HC binding site; and following adrenalectomy, the number of each type of binding site for glucocorticoids increases differently from the others.

Sucrose density gradient analyses of pH 5.5 and pH 7.4 extracts from rat liver nucleoli revealed the presence of two broad peaks of approximately 60S and 80S, and 60S and 80-100S, respectively. Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles containing precursor ribosomal RNA in these peaks have been characterized by electron microscopy and RNA analyses. Spherical particles only were found in the 60S peak of the pH 5.5 extract, from which 28S RNA and smaller RNA (23S and 18S RNA) exclusively were extracted. In the broad 80S peak of the pH 5.5 extract, about 60% of the particles were spherical while 30% were rodlike. In the RNA species present there were 28S plus smaller RNA (80%) and 35S RNA (20%). The 60Speak of the pH 7.4 extract contained mainly spherical particles (84%), and the RNA species present was mostly 28S plus smaller RNA (89%). In addition to spherical particles (43%), a number of rodlike (31%) and filamentous molecules (26%) were observed in the heavier side of the 80-100S peak of the pH 7.4 extract, from which 45S (14%), 35S (26%), and 28S and smaller RNA (60%) were extracted. Thus the precursor ribosomal particles containing 45S RNA and 35S RNA appear to be filamentous and rodlike molecules, respectively. Folding of loose ribonucleoprotein filaments into compact, spherical, large subparticles may be part of the maturation process of ribosomal large subparticles, in addition to the so-called sequential cleavage of RNA.

Isolated rat liver nuclei were incubated under appropriate conditions in the presence of 0.5 micrograms/ml alpha-amanitin and an RNAase inhibitor prepared from cytosol fraction, together with alpha-32P-UTP or alpha-32P-CTP and three other nucleoside triphosphates. RNA extracted by an SDS-hot phenol procedure was fractionated with sucrose density gradient centrifugation followed by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Fingerprint analysis of the in vitro synthesized "5S" RNA, which was slightly larger than mature 5S RNA on gel electrophoresis, showed that it contained all the sequences of mature 5S RNA except for the oligonucleotide at the 3' end. Instead, it contained two additional spots which were not present in mature 5S RNA. Analysis of the extra spots revealed that they were derived from the 3' end of the in vitro synthesized "5S RNA, which were sequenced tentatively as -CUUGAUGCUUoh (extra sequence underlined). The 5' end of the product was (p)pGU--. Isolated HeLa cell nuclei synthesized similar sized "5S" RNA under the same conditions. We conclude from these results that in isolated nuclei of these mammalian cells RNA polymerase III starts transcription of 5S RNA gene at the same site as the 5' end of mature 5S RNA, proceeds toward the 3' direction and stops at a site probably 8 nucleotides downstream from the 3' end of mature 5S RNA. Experiments with a short pulse and with various "chases" have demonstrated the presence of a short-lived precursor 5S RNA which is similar in size and sequence to in vitro "5S" RNA, suggesting that 5S RNA is synthesized in vivo as a longer precursor molecular as demonstrated in this in vitro system, and is rapidly processed into mature 5S RNA.

Poly(A)+ RNA was isolated from membrane-bound polysomes of the livers of 3-methylcholanthrene (MC)-treated rats, and was partially purified by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The mRNA was translated in an in vitro rabbit reticulocyte lysate system, and assayed for the synthesis of MC-inducible forms of cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome P-450MC) using anti-cytochrome P-450c antibody which reacted with two types of cytochrome P-450MC, P-450c, and P-450d. The mRNA activity for cytochrome P-450MC was located at around 18S, accounting for approximately 5% of total mRNA activity. The double-stranded complementary DNA which had been synthesized from the partially purified mRNA by avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase I (Klenow enzyme) was cloned in Escherichia coli X1776, using plasmid pBR322 as a cloning vector. After differential colony hybridization using [32P]cDNA's synthesized from mRNA preparation of MC-treated or untreated rat liver as a probe, a clone (3-9-1) carrying cytochrome P-450MC cDNA sequence was identified by a positive hybridization-translation assay. The specific mRNA hybridized with plasmid 3-9-1 DNA showed an enriched synthesis of a protein with apparent molecular weight of 56,000 daltons, which was immunoprecipitable with anti-P-450c antibody. In RNA blot analysis with MC-, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)-, and phenobarbital (PB)-induced mRNA as well as uninduced mRNA, a longer cDNA (P-34) which had been isolated by hybridization with the insertion of clone 3-9-1, and the previously isolated PB-inducible cytochrome P-450b cDNA (Fujii-Kuriyama et al. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. 79, 2793-2797) hybridized with mRNA preparations in an inducer-specific manner.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)