RHYTHM OF PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS IN DENERVATED RAT-LIVER

Using the radiochemical method, we found a circahoralian rhythm of protein synthesis in slices of rat liver two weeks after transection of the vagus nerve anterior stem or bilateral subphrenic vagotomy with simultaneous transection of the celiac plexus hepatic branches. The rhythm was similar to those found in slices of normal liver or in a monolayer culture of hepatocytes. The incorporation of leucine in proteins and the pool of free leucine were similar in the denervated and normal liver. The self-synchronization of individual cell oscillations in protein synthesis intensity was shown earlier in experiments performed on cell cultures. A study of protein synthesis in the denervated liver suggests that cell interactions are also the main mechanism underlying the synchronization of oscillating cellular functions in the organ in situ.