LDH isozymes in epidermis and skin carcinoma in hamsters.

Lactate dehydrogeanse (LDH) isozymes in the epidermis and in transplantable epidermal carcinoma from Syrian hamsters were studied by polyacrilamide electrophoresis. A 5-band pattern with occasional loss of 1--2 anode fractions in certain tumor samples is typical. In the epidermis of 14 to 15-day-old foetuses, in the regenerating epidermis, and in tumor cells cathode of M subunits predominate, in particular the fifth fraction in the last two cases. In the epidermis from new born, 25-day-old (growing stage of the hairs) and 60 to 80-day-old (resting stage of the hairs) animals a relative increase of the H subunits is striking. These results reveal a foetal-like pattern of LDH isozymes in regenerating and tumorous epidermis, as has been observed in other isozymes and in other tissues.