Autoradiographic analysis of (14C-methyl)-L-methionine uptake in transplanted rat brain tumors.

To elucidate metabolic pathways of methionine in brain tumors, we studied autoradiographic images of (14C-methyl)-L-methionine (14C-Met) in transplanted rat brain tumors. 14C-Met accumulated in the tumor almost twice as much as in the gray matter 90 min after injection. The acid-insoluble fraction, which was bound to macromolecules, comprised 84% the total count of the accumulated tracers in the tumor. Analysis of 14C-Met tracer accumulation is informative for understanding amino acid metabolism in brain tumors.