Stimulatory effect of a serum factor on DNA synthesis in isolated hepatoma nuclei

A serum protein present in normal rat serum and absent from the serum of hepatoma-bearing animals at advanced stages has a stimulatory effect on 3H-thymidine incorporation into hepatoma cells in suspension. Liver cells maintained in a similar suspension are not affected by the factor. The stimulation appears to be at the level of chromatin or DNA. Isolated membrane-denuded nuclei from Morris hepatoma 7777 incorporate more 3H-TTP when the factor is present in the incubation mixture. Nuclei from host liver are not stimulated. The factor also stimulates incorporation of 3H-TTP in a system using calf thymus DNA as primer and an extracted DNA polymerase. In this system incorporation is stimulated with DNA polymerase from both tissues, host liver and hepatoma 7777. It is concluded that the factor does not act on the DNA polymerase but on chromatin or DNA.