Reduced levels of sialic acid in the plasma membrane during hepatocellular proliferation.

When rats were infused with a solution containing triiodothyronine, amino acids, glucagon and heparin (solution A) the hepatocytes increased DNA synthesis and decreased plasma membrane sialic acid. In order to study whether the reduced levels of sialic acid in the plasma membrane were associated with hepatocyte proliferation, different mixtures of three components of solution A were infused into rats and the DNA synthetic activity as well as the sialic acid content measured. Results reported here show a correlation between DNA synthetic activity and sialic acid reduction suggesting that the decrease in the plasma membrane sialic acid can be a pre-replicative step associated to cell proliferation.