A new negatively regulated acute-phase phosphoprotein synthesized by rat hepatocytes.

The effect of acute inflammation on the production of the major phosphorylated protein (PP63) excreted by rat hepatocytes was investigated. Both intra- and extracellular forms of the protein labelled with [32P]Pi, [3H]fucose and [35S]methionine were immunoprecipitated with monospecific polyclonal antibodies, and relative rates of PP63 synthesis were measured. The hepatocytes of acutely inflamed rats produced and excreted 85% less 32P- and 3H-labelled PP63 than did control cells. This decreased amount of PP63 did not result from an impairment in the phosphorylation or glycosylation processes or from a blockade in excretion, but rather was found to be due to extensive shut-off in biosynthesis of the protein as measured by [35S]methionine incorporation. Thus PP63 would appear to represent a new negatively regulated acute-phase protein.