Dense distribution of nuclear alkaline protease to nucleoli with increase in rapidly growing cells in rats.

Neutral and alkaline proteases (chymotrypsin-like serine proteases) are tightly bound to chromatin in nuclei of various tissues of rats, and rapidly growing cells are abundant in the latter enzyme. Activities per mg DNA of these enzymes were measured with fractions of euchromatin, heterochromatin, nucleoli and extranucleoli from normal and regenerating livers, and Rhodamine sarcoma. With normal liver, both enzymes, respectively, were almost evenly distributed among the fractions, except that alkaline protease was significantly higher in nucleoli. The nucleolar alkaline protease increased by 30-60% with regenerating liver and by higher than 100% with the tumor.