Sources of ammonia for urea synthesis in isolated rat liver cells

L-Leucine inhibits urea synthesis in rat hepatocytes from a number of nitrogen sources, including ammonia. The inhibition by L-leucine is largely overcome by addition of 1 mM L-ornithine, suggesting that the main site of L-leucine action is at ornithine transcarbamylase, rather than at glutamate dyhydrogenase. L-Norvaline is a more potent inhibitor of urea synthesis than is L-leucine, but again the inhibition is largely counteracted by L-ornithine. Addition of aminooxyacetate and L-norvaline strongly suppresses the formation of glucose and lactate from L-asparagine, suggesting that an alternate pathway of aspartate metabolism, the purine nucleotide cycle, in not a major pathway. Hadacidin, an inhibitor of adenylosuccinate synthetase, an enzyme of the purine nucleotide cycle, has no effect on urea synthesis in rat liver cells.