Influence of amino acid supply on ribosomes and protein synthesis of perfused rat liver

1. The livers of rats were perfused in situ with medium containing mixtures of amino acids in multiples of their concentration in normal rat plasma. The incorporation of labelled amino acid into protein of the liver and of the perfusing medium increased with increasing amino acid concentration. During 60min. perfusions, labelling of liver protein reached a plateau, and labelling of medium protein was inhibited when the initial concentration of the amino acid mixture was more than ten times the normal plasma value. 2. Examination of polysome profiles derived from livers perfused without amino acids in the medium showed that the number of large aggregates was decreased and the number of small aggregates, particularly monomers and dimers, was increased with time of perfusion. The addition of amino acids to the perfusion medium reversed this polysome shift to an extent that was dependent on the initial concentration of amino acids. Polysome profiles derived from livers perfused for 60min. with ten times the normal plasma concentration of amino acids were essentially the same as the polysome profiles of normal non-perfused livers. 3. The ability of ribosome preparations from perfused livers to incorporate amino acids into protein in vitro decreased with increasing time of perfusion when no amino acids were added to the medium, but increased as the concentration of amino acids in the perfusion medium was increased. 4. The ability of cell sap from perfused livers to support protein synthesis in vitro was not influenced by the amino acid concentration of the perfusion medium. 5. Livers were perfused for 60min. with medium containing amino acid mixtures at ten times the normal plasma concentration but deficient in one amino acid. Maximal incorporation of labelled amino acid into liver protein, the stability of the polysome profile and the ability of ribosome preparations to incorporate amino acids into protein were found to depend on the presence of 11 amino acids: arginine, asparagine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, threonine, tryptophan and valine. A mixture of these 11 amino acids, at ten times their normal plasma concentration, stimulated the incorporation of labelled amino acid into liver protein, stabilized the polysome profile and increased the ability of ribosome preparations to incorporate amino acids into protein to the same extent as the complete mixture. 6. It is concluded that the availability of certain amino acids plays an important role in the control of protein synthesis, possibly by stimulating the ability of ribosomes to become, and to remain, attached to messenger RNA.