Properties of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (guanosine triphosphate) synthesized in hepatoma cells in the presence of amino acid analogues.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) was induced by a combination of dibutyryl cyclic AMP, theophyline and dexamethasone in Reuber H35 hepatoma cells under conditions where an amino acid in the medium was replaced by an appropriate analogue. 2. With canavanine replacing arginine or with 5-fluorotryptophan or 6-fluorotryptophan replacing tryptophan the induced enzyme had a lower catalytic activity-relative to antibody reactivity. 3. These aberrant enzyme molecules were heat-labile in vitro. 4. Measurements of enzyme degradation in vivo indicated that the canavanine-containing enzyme and the 6-fluorotryptophan-containing enzyme were degraded more rapidly than the enzyme containing all natural amino acids.