Increased uridine kinase (ATP: uridine 5'-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.1.48) activity in human and rat tumors.

The activity of uridine kinase (ATP: uridine 5'-phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.1.48), the rate-limiting enzyme of the UMP salvage pathway, was measured in human ovaries and ovarian carcinomas, in a spectrum of six rat hepatomas of different growth rates and in eleven normal rat tissues of high and low cell renewal rates. In a standard isotopic method developed for the 100,000 x g fraction, uridine kinase activity was linear for 20 min and proportional with protein concentration over a range of 0.1 to 0.8 mg per 0.1 ml reaction mixture. The apparent Kms for uridine, ATP and Mg++ in normal rat liver were 5.0, 3.4 and 1.5 mM and in the rapidly growing hepatoma 3924A, 0.8, 2.1 and 1.1 mM, respectively. In normal control ACl/N and Buffalo strain rat livers, kinase activity ranged from 159 to 180 nmol/h/mg protein. In hepatomas of slow and intermediate growth rates, kinase activity increased to 1.5- to 2.6-fold, and in hepatomas of rapid growth rates, to 5.1- to 5.8-fold over that of the relevant control, normal livers. When hepatoma 3924A tissue culture cells were plated and expressed their proliferative program, kinase activity increased to 2.1-fold in early log phase. To further clarify the linkage between uridine kinase and cell replicating capacity, the enzyme activity was measured in rat organs of high and low cell renewal. The kinase activity in liver of adult male Wistar rats was 176 +/- 6 nmol/h/mg protein. Activities in thymus, spleen and bone marrow were 4.7-, 2.1-, and 1.8-fold, respectively, of rat liver values; in adipose tissue, the activities were low. The decay rates of uridine kinase were examined in rats injected with a high dose of cycloheximide, which inhibits protein biosynthesis by 90%. The t(1/2) of the kinase in rat bone marrow was 0.64 h, in rat liver longer than 6 h. In human ovary and ovarian carcinoma, the apparent Kms for uridine were 11.5 and 0.5 mM, respectively. In human ovary (n = 3), kinase activity was 38 nmol/hr/mg protein; in ovarian carcinoma (n = 6), the activity increased to 5- to 13-fold over that in ovary. The positive linkage of uridine kinase activity with proliferation and transformation is apparent in human ovarian carcinomas and in rat hepatomas of different growth rates. Therefore, the increased uridine kinase activity should be an interesting target for anticancer chemotherapy.