Arginine synthesis by hepatomas in vitro. II. Isolation and characterization of Morris hepatoma variants unable to convert ornithine to arginine, and modulation of urea-cycle enzymes by dexamethasone and cyclic-AMP.

'77orn', a derivative of the Morris rat hepatoma 7777, stably expresses high levels of ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTC) and carbamoylphosphate synthetase I (CPS-I), and is able to grow indefinitely in ornithine-medium (medium with ornithine in place of arginine). Variants that have lost this ability are isolated from 77orn by a 'suicide' selective technique dependent on the cellular incorporation of [3H]ornithine. These variants, which have reduced levels of CPS-I, or of both CPS-I and OTC, are shown to have developed multiple hormonal requirements; their enzyme deficiencies can be reversed by use of an appropriately supplemented medium. In particular, CPS-I is inducible by dexamethasone and dibutyryl-cyclic-AMP in combination. Cholera toxin can be used instead of cyclic-AMP, but then butyrate is additionally required if the induction is to be maintained in the long term. The use of these agents in excess can depress OTC. Several other hepatomas, and alos explanted foetal rat liver cells, have similar requirements for CPS-I expression. It is argued that multiple hormonal requirements for CPS-I production are normal in liver cells in vitro, and that hormone-independent hepatomas should be regarded as abnormal. The implications of this for the somatic cell genetic investigation of differentiation are briefly discussed.