Acid ribonuclease activity of hepatoma cells

Activities of intracellular RNase of the liver cytoplasm, normal liver cells exposed to 3'-Me-DAB and heaptoma cells, have been studied in correlation with the contents of RNA and DNA and morphologic changes of the cells with or without treating RNase. The data showed that in hepatoma cells the intracellular acid RNase activity decreases with the decrease of RNA and unchanged DNA contents and alkaline RNase activity. Morphologic observation proved that hepatoma cells show a small low massed vesicular or vacuolar endoplasmic reticulum having ribosomes. For the exposure to RNase the hepatoma cells proved to be much less resistant comparing to normal liver cells. The former lost the granules and was destroyed in its endoplasmic reticulum, whereas the latter retained ribosomes and ER. From these experiments it has been speculated that acid RNase in the cell may be involved in RNA synthesis and alkaline RNase in RNA decompostition, though the effect of the difference in concentration in the case given RNase experimentally can not be neglected.