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The major findings of this investigation are that polyamine biosynthetic enzymes and polyamine levels are regulated by specific cellular growth factors. A serum-free defined medium was developed for the Chinese hamster ovary cell line to examine the regulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODCase) (EC.4.1.1.17), S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDCase) (EC.4.1.1.50), as well as polyamine catabolism. The activity of ODCase is dependent primarily on the presence of insulin, and appears to be modulated by transferrin and ferrous sulfate, indicating that iron transport may be important in the expression of ODCase activity. The enzyme activity can also be increased by depriving the substrate ornithine, which probably acts through a putrescine mediated event. This substrate limitation leads to an intracellular decrease in putrescine and spermidine, but not spermine. The activity of SAMDCase is not influenced by alterations in the growth factors or by ornithine deprivation. Since the spermidine levels are lower as compared to cells growing in medium with serum, it appears that SAMDCase activity is not generally regulated in a negative manner by spermidine. The polyamine interconversion enzymes, such as spermidine/spermine N¹-acetyltransferase and polyamine oxidase, appear to be regulated by growth factors other than insulin, transferrin, and ferrous sulfate. Cells maintained in defined medium are much more tightly attached to the surface of the dishes in which they are growing, which may be related to the growth factors present or a lack of cellular polyamines. Vinculin, a cell surface protein associated with focal adhesion plaques, moves away from the cell surface and into the nuclear area in defined medium cells as evidenced by fluorescent antibody staining. The major conclusions of this work are that ODCase synthesis is regulated by growth factors, that enzyme activity is also regulated post-transcriptionally by substrate and end-product, and that general polyamine metabolism is dependant on complex growth factors, other than insulin, which regulate the metabolism is dependant on complex growth factors, other than insulin, which regulate the metabolism and interconversion of polyamines.

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