COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON NORMAL AND ON POLIOMYELITIS INFECTED TISSUE CULTURES: II. INVESTIGATION OF VARIOUS ENZYME SYSTEMS IN HOMOGENATES OF KIDNEY TISSUE CULTURES OF NORMAL RHESUS MONKEYS

Abstract

Pools of normal tissue cultures were examined for enzymes associated with nucleic acid metabolism. Ribonucleases and desoxyribonucleases, 5-nucleotidases, simple nucleotidases, acid and alkaline phosphatases were studied, and certain others occasionally demonstrated. Characteristic behavior of these enzyme systems during the cultivation procedures, during growth, and during degeneration was described. Quantitative data indicate the presence of significant amounts of enzymes in the supernatant fluid. This accounts for the considerable loss in these specialized constituents during fluid changes. The bearing of these findings on the physiology and pathology of cultivated cells was discussed, as a working hypothesis, with special emphasis on poliomyelitis infection. The use of enzyme assays, as functional tests supplementing morphological methods in tissue cultivation, was recommended.