Abstract
EXPERIMENTAL evidence has been accumulating in recent years to suggest an important role of methyl groups in the formation of nucleic acids. Among the principal sources of methyl groups for the animal organism are methionine and choline. The organism can synthesize the methyl groups from simple precursors, such as glycine, serine and ‘formate’1. Studies from this laboratory2 have demonstrated that methionine, which contains an active S-methyl group, is very radiolabile and is destroyed both in the in vivo and in the in vitro experiments, following exposure to ionizing radiations. Post-irradiation administration of spleen and bone marrow homogenates has been found to counteract the lethal and other biological effects of ionizing radiations in mice3, and it has been postulated4 that these act through a humoral agent present in the extracts. In view of these findings, coupled with our own results on radiolability of methionine, it was considered necessary to investigate if post-irradiation administration of methionine offered any protection at all against radiation exposures. Since impairment of nucleic acid synthesis following X-irradiation has been well established5, any substance having a modifying influence on the primary radiation lesion should have a beneficial influence on the levels of nucleic acids. This criterion has been used here to assess the possible protection and therapeutic effects of methionine administered half an hour after total-body X-irradiation.
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NERURKAR, M., BAXI, A., RANADIVE, N. et al. Influence of Post-Irradiation Administration of Methionine on the Levels of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Bone Marrow, Spleen and Liver of Rats. Nature 180, 193–194 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/180193a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/180193a0
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