1 alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 enables regenerating liver cells to make functional ribonucleotide reductase subunits and replicate DNA in thyroparathyroidectomized rats.

Between 16 and 20 h after partial (70%) hepatectomy (HPX) in normal rats, the remaining liver cells accumulate ribonucleotide reductase subunits, assemble these into active holoenzyme, and initiate DNA replication. These late prereplicative activities did not occur in most of the liver cells remaining after HPX in rats which had been thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) 72 h previously. However, one intraperitoneal injection of 400 or 600 ng 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3/100 g body weight at the time of HPX enabled the remaining liver cells in such TPTX rats to make functional ribonucleotide reductase subunits, assemble these subunits into active CDP-reducing holoenzymes, and replicate their DNA, though they started to do so 4 to 16 h later than in normal animals.