Summary
Lymphosarcoma and normal lymphatic tissues were incubated with glycerol-1-C14, and the radioactivity of the free amino acids, protein-bound amino acids, lipids, respiratory CO2, and the nucleic acid and acid-soluble purines was measured. The free serine and glycine of the tumor contained 3–7 times the radioactivity that the normal tissues contained. Likewise, the specific activity of the free serine and glycine of the tumor was greater than that of the normal tissues. More radioactivity was observed in the acid-soluble pool or nucleic acid purines and in the free alanine of the tumor than in those of the normal tissues. On the other hand, the respiratory CO2 and the free dicarboxylic amino acids of the normal tissues contained more radioactivity than did those of the tumor.
Ten to 23 per cent of the total radioactivity of tumor protein was attributable to the dicarboxylic amino acids, whereas 62–84 per cent of the total radioactivity was due to serine plus glycine. On the other hand, 32–66 per cent of the radioactivity of the protein of spleen and thymus cells was due to aspartic and glutamic acid and only 22–42 per cent to serine and glycine.
Aided in part by grants from the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia Society, Inc.