The inducibility of tyrosine aminotransferase in monolayer cultures of hepatocytes from neonatal rats

Hepatocytes from neo- and postnatal rat liver were isolated, purified from non-hepatocytes (erythropoietic cells), and cultured in sufficient quantity to investigate enzyme inducibility. Tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) in neo- and postnatal hepatocytes was induced by maximally responsive doses of glucagon, dexamethasone, DB-cAMP, theophylline, and combinations thereof. In cultures from newborn parenchymal cells TAT enzyme-specific activity showed only a moderate inducibility; however, responsiveness to the combination was fully developed 10 days after birth and did not differ from values found in adult liver cells. The results also show the existence of the "permissive" effect of glucocorticoid during postnatal age, and indicate that the development of a possibly involved receptor complex for the induction of TAT is largely completed 5-10 days after birth.