Incorporation characteristics of uracil, uridine, and orotic acid into ribonucleic acid of neoplastic cells.

Incorporation of uracil and uridine into ribonucleic acid (RNA) was compared among the ascitic and solid forms of Ehrlich mouse tumor, Morris hepatoma, Rhodamine sarcoma, gastric cancer and ulcer from human patients, and several normal rat tissues. Of these cells tested, the cells of Ehrlich ascites and solid tumors, human gastric cancer and ulcer, and certain tissues of a normal rat showed a considerably high activity. Furthermore, Ehrlich ascites tumor cells indicating a high incorporation activity was also high in activities of both phosphorylase and kinase for uridine, while Rhodamine sarcoma as a representative having a low incorporation activity was considerably low in these two enzymic activities. RNA synthesis from uridine phosphates by Rhodamine sarcoma was maintained to a fairly high extent contrary to its low activities of the phosphorylase and the kinase. Consequently, the low utilization of uracil and uridine by certain tumors was suggested to be due to the extremely low activities of both enzymes.