Stimulation of protein synthesis in isolated hepatocytes by somatomedin.

Insulin (1 mU/ml) stimulated the incorporation of 14C-leucine into trichloroacetic acid-precipitable material by isolated hepatocytes from normal and hypophysectomized adult rats and 12-day-old rabbits. Somatomedin (200 ng/ml) purified from human plasma had an insulinlike effect in hepatocytes from hypophysectomized rats and baby rabbits but not from normal rats. This study suggests that, as well as being a site of somatomedin synthesis, the liver may be a target organ for this hormone.