Effect of chloramphenicol on ribonucleic acid synthesis in liver cells in suspension

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Chloramphenicol has a stimulatory effect on the incorporation of radioactive phosphate into the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of perfused rat-liver slices, whole liver homogenates or the liver-cell suspensions, but no effect on the incorporation of C14-adenine and C14-uracil into the RNA of the tissue slices. Chloramphenicol completely inhibits the incorporation of labelled adenine and uracil into the RNA of the cell suspensions, or into the RNA of homogenates derived from the whole liver tissues. Chloramphenicol has at most a slight inhibitory effect on the transport of labelled adenine or uracil in the hepatic cells in suspension; in the slices, the transport of these bases is not inhibited at all. Unlike tissue slices, hepatic cells in suspension are permeable to chloramphenicol. In the presence of chloramphenicol, for reasons that are not clear, the conversion of the base into the appropriate nucleotide does not proceed.