The synthesis of citrulline and p-aminohippuric acid by rat hepatoma.

The capacity of cell-free preparations of neo plastic tissue to carry out synthetic reactions has not been widely investigated. The desirability of such studies is apparent, since information might be provided which would bear on the integrated metabolic functions of the cell, particularly in re lation to the coupling of oxidative energy with the synthetic reactions. Previous studies in this labo ratory dealing with the synthesis of citrulline (†̃2, 3) and p-aminohippuric acid (4—6), suggested conditions suitable for the study of these synthetic reactions in neoplastie liver preparations. While the syntheses of these compounds represent highly specialized functions of the normal liver cell, their dependence on energy coupling reactions make their study in neoplastic liver tissue particularly desirable. The reactions investigated in this study were the following: