Nuclear binding of tritiated actinomycin in surface epithelial cells from normal stomach and atrophic gastritis.

Triated actinomycin binding to DNA is closely linked to the degree of repression in chromatin. 3H-AM binding to DNA is the most pronounced in nuclei of cells committed into cycle. Inversely, in cells in the last steps of their differentiation or (and) in the resting state (non-dividing cells), 3H-AM binding for DNA is diminished down to a baseline since it is limited by the deoxynucleoproteins. Epithelial cells of stomach mucosa and duodenum demonstrate an increased cell uptake of tritiated actinomycin from the surface to the bottom of the pits. In severe gastritis and in intestinalysed metaplasia this was abolished: with a uniform enhancement of 3H-AM binding. These findings seem to indicate that these cells are derepressed.