Decrease of human serum fucosyltransferase as an indicator of successful tumor therapy.

Surgical removal of colon carcinomas leads to a decrease in the rate of incorporation of [14C]fucose into its endogenous acceptor in human serum; normal incorporation rates are attained within 14 days. A similar time course has been determined for alpha2- and alpha3-fucosyltransferase when either desialo- or desialodegalactofetuin are employed as exogenous acceptors. A correlation has also been seen between transferase activity and the therapeutic response of patients with breast cancer. These results indicate that the determination of fucosyltransferase activity can facilitate the diagnosis of neoplasia, and the success of surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.

[Intracellular localisation of urea-cycle enzymes in liver (author's transl)]. / Intrazelluläre Lokalisation von Enzymen des Krebs-Henseleit-Cyclus in der Leber

Enzymes of the Krebs-Henseleit urea-cycle were localized by means of differential centrifugation and fractional tissue extraction in rat liver and in human liver. Argininosuccinatlyase (ASAL) and Argininosuccinatsynthetase (ASAS) represent enzymes of the soluble cytoplasmic fraction. Ornithine-ketoacid-transaminase(OKT), carbamyl-phosphate-synthetase (CPS) and ornithine-carbamyl-transferase (OCT) are localized in the mitochondrial and nuclei fractions of the liver cell. Most of the arginase activity is bound to subcellular structures (probably to nuclei). A small portion of arginase-activity was found in the soluble cytoplasmatic fraction. The enzymes of the Krebs-Henseleit urea-cycle are equally distributed in rat liver and in human liver. Differences in the subcellular localisation of (mitochondrial) enzymes in human liver could be attributed to mitochondrial breakage during tissue preparation and do not represent in-vivo conditions.