Abstract
WHOLE-BODY X-irradiation delivered within 6 hr. of hepatectomy will inhibit the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in regenerating liver. This inhibition has been elegantly demonstrated to be a result of the failure to synthesize certain enzymes concerned with the formation of DNA1. The nature of this inhibition of enzyme formation is suggested by two recent reports. Myers2 has reported that synthesis of DNA in regenerating liver is not completely inhibited following X-irradiation of liver only, and Benjamin and Yost3 have observed that the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation seen in liver mitochondria following whole-body irradiation is due to a pituitary stimulation with subsequent activation of the adrenal cortical hormones. These observations suggest that this interesting and rather unusual effect of low doses of whole-body X-irradiation on synthesis of DNA in the intact animal may be due to a pituitary stimulation which ultimately results in a decreased amount of energy being available for enzyme synthesis. The possibility of a pituitary effect on synthesis of DNA in regenerating liver following whole-body X-irradiation was confirmed in the experiments reported here.
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References
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GOULD, D., FLOYD, K., WHITEHEAD, R. et al. Pituitary Effect on Synthesis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Regenerating Rat Liver following Whole-body X-irradiation. Nature 192, 1309 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1921309a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1921309a0
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