Protein synthesis in dextran sulfate-treated ascites tumor cells.

Treatment of ascites tumor cells with dextran sulfate resulted in a marked inhibition of the incorporation of [14C]valine into protein in the presence of a high Na+ medium. Amino acid incorporation was restored after i.p. injection of these cells into mice or by exposure of the cells to ascites fluid in vitro. In a medium high in K+ and low in Na+, [14C]valine incorporation into protein took place in dextran treated cells. Rotenone inhibited the reaction, which could be restored by addition of both inorganic phosphate and either glucose or glucose 6-phosphate. Quercetin, an inhibitor of the Na+-K+-ATPase, markedly depressed the incorporation of [14C]valine into protein in intact sdviyrd tumor cells in a high Na+ medium. There was little or no inhibition of protein synthesis in dextran sulfate treated cells when tested in a high K+-low Na+ medium. These experiments suggest a relationship between protein synthesis and the operation of the membranous Na+-K+-ATPase.