Tyrosine aminotransferase induction in hepatocytes cultured from rat foetuses treated with dexamethasone in utero.

1. The administration of dexamethasone to foetal rats in utero does not result in the appearance of specific tyrosine aminotransferase activity even after 24 h. 2. When foetal hepatocytes are cultured in vitro from animals treated in utero with dexamethasone, significantly higher activities of specific tyrosine aminotransferase are found than in untreated controls. 3. Dexamethasone in vitro induces specific tyrosine aminotransferase in cells cultured from control animals and the effect is maximal at 10 nM in the culture medium. 4. Actinomycin D at 0.2 microgram/ml in the culture medium completely prevents the induction of activity in vitro. 5. In cultures established from animals treated with dexamethasone in utero, the increase in specific tyrosine aminotransferase activity over the control cultures is only marginally decreased in the presence of actinomycin D. 6. The results can be interpreted to mean that dexamethasone in utero stimulates the transcription of enzyme-specific mRNA, which is not rranslated until a translational block in the foetal liver is removed by the conditions of culture in vitro.