The regulation by cell density of amino acid transport system L in SV40 3T3 cells.

The rate of transport of phenylalanine by System L has been measured in SV40 3T3 cells at various cell densities. When the activity of the L system was determined before any cell depletion of intracellular amino acids, a density-dependent increase in transport paralleled the decrease in cell density. This regulation was lost after cell depletion but reappeared after reloading the cells with pertinent substrates of System L. The phenylalanine transport activity modulated by cell density appeared to be related to the internal level of amino acids capable of exchange up to a definite concentration, beyond which transport activity by System L did not parallel a further increase of internal substrate level. Analysis of the relationship between influx and substrate concentration suggested that two saturable components contribute to entry of phenylalanine and leucine in depleted and in reloaded cells: a low-affinity and a high-affinity component. Both kinetic parameters of the high-affinity component appeared to be modulated by the loading treatment, but only V changed markedly. Activation energies for the high-affinity component of the amino acid transport reaction were calculated from an Arrhenius plot in reloaded cells, and were found to be different for low- and high-density cultures. This result is consistent with the interpretation that cell density modulated the rates at which the amino acid-carrier complex can move within the cell membrane.