Purine metabolism in isolated rat hepatocytes

The metabolism of adenine, hypoxanthine, guanine, and adenosine was studied in rat liver cell suspensions, prepared by collagenase perfusion. Oxygen supply was a critical variable in the preparation and subsequent incubationof the cells, as judged on the basis of the ratio of radioactivity in ATP to that in ADP after incubation with [14C]adenine. This ratio is suggested as an additional criterion of cell function. Adenine nucleotides synthesized from [14C]adenine were slowly catabolized to allantoin, with little incorporationof radioactivity into other purine compounds. [14C]Adenine is thus suitable for prelabelling the adenine nucleotide pool. [14C]Guanine and [14C]hypoxanthine were rapidly catabolized to allantoin, whereas nucleotide synthesis was low. [14C]Adenosine was initially phosphorylated and deaminated at about equal rates, but with continued incubation catabolic products predominated. Isolated hepatocytes were found suitable for studies of purine metabolism, in which the liver has important functions for the whole organism.