Ovarian ornithine decarboxylase regulation in the immature, the pubescent, and the pseudopregnant rat.

Ovarian ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) regulation was investigated in immature, pubescent, and pseudopregnant rats. After initial induction of the enzyme by injection of lutropin in the immature rat, continued daily injections resulted in a graded decrease in the activity of the enzyme. In the 32-day-old rat, the induction and subsequent decline in enzymic activity after a single injection of lutropin could only be partially reversed by injections of the hormone at 4-hr intervals. This decrease could not be attributed to a decrease in ovarian in vivo uptake of the hormone. In the pseudopregnant rat, ovarian ornithine decarboxylase is highly refractory to induction by either a single injection or repeated injections of lutropin. This refractoriness occurs despite a 2- to 3-fold increase in ovarian in vivo uptake of the hormone compared to that in the 32-day-old rat. It is suggested that the refractoriness observed with all three tissues is a function of cell differentiation.