Effects of inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis on activation of glyconeogenesis in Tetrahymena This investigation was supported by a Public Health Service Postdoctoral Fellowship (2-F2-CA-20,201-02) from the National Cancer Institute.

Abstract

The effects of actinomycin D, puromycin, and p-fluorophenylalanine on the activation of glyconeogenesis in Tetrahymena were studied. The extent of activation of glyconeogenesis in cultures containing inhibitor was as great as or greater than in the controls, as was the uptake of tracer levels of acetate into glycogen. These increases occurred despite a partial or complete inhibition of synthesis of isocitrate lyase, a glyconeogenic enzyme in Tetrahymena . Washed cells from these cultures could convert tracer or substrate levels of acetate to glycogen at enhanced rates. When glyconeogenesis was activated in starved cells in the presence of inhibitor, there was a negligible increase in the amount of isocitrate lyase, but a significant increase in the rate of glyconeogenesis. The data indicate that glyconeogenesis in Tetrahymena can be activated in the absence of enzyme synthesis.