Arginase, adenosinepyrophosphatase, and rhodanese in regenerating rat liver.

Gurd, Vars, and Ravdin (2) have shown that the restoration rate of liver protein following surgical removal of 70 per cent of the organ was greater in protein-depleted than in well nourished rats. These authors suggested that the stimulus to recovery of liver protein was more potent in the animal with the more severe reduction of liver substance. The nature of the stimulus to regeneration is not known. It seemed to us that information on the mechanism of growth responses could be obtained by studying the relationship between restoration of enzyme activity and of total liver protein in different states of nutrition. This paper deals with the restoration of arginase, adenosinepyrophosphatase, and rhodanese after partial hepatectomy. Data on the decrease of these enzymes on protein depletion have been presented previously (3).