Changes in the nucleotide metabolism of Ehrlich ascites tumour cells during their growth in vivo.

During the transition of Ehrlich mouse ascites tumour cells from the proliferating into the resting phase of growth a tremendous loss of purine and pyrimidine compounds was quantitated by ion-pair reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. This change is accompanied by a distinct decline in the incorporation rates of adenine, hypoxanthine, and adenosine. Inorganic phosphate stimulates the low rate of hypoxanthine incorporation of cells in the plateau phase, but lacks any effect on the high rate during proliferation. The mitochondria suffer structural deteriorations and decrease in their cellular content in the course of the plateau phase; however, other changes were not seen by morphometric analysis. The interrelations between nucleotide metabolism, mitochondrial content and the rates of formation and consumption of ATP are discussed.