Differential Response of Protein Synthesis in Ehrlich Ascites Tumour Cells and Normal Thymocytes to 2,4-Dinitrophenol and Oligomycin

Abstract

RECENT work with intact yeast¹ and bacterial cells² suggested that some step in protein synthesis requires energy in a form similar to or identical with the high energy intermediates of oxidative phosphorylation rather than ATP directly. We present here data which indicate that a similar energy form is used for some phase of protein synthesis by intact mammalian cells, such as the thymic lymphocyte. The same requirement, however, cannot be demonstrated for a highly undifferentiated neoplastic cell—the Ehrlich ascites tumour cell (ATC). This alteration in the way in which metabolic energy is usually coupled to protein synthesis may represent the loss of an important control mechanism for regulating protein synthesis in this tumour cell.