Abstract
The effects of the teratogens thalidomide and chlorcyclizine on the biosynthesis of nucleic acids and proteins were studied in pregnant rats. Thalidomide administration resulted in the accumulation of the labeled precursors, thymidine and glycine, in the nucleic acids of fetus and maternal tissues, suggesting accelerated biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid. The increase in the accumulation of thymidine was reversed by actinomycin D. Thalidomide had comparatively little effect on the incorporation of precursors into tissue proteins. In contrast, after chlorcyclizine the accumulation of isotopes of thymidine in the fetus was less than in controls. Chlorcyclizine promoted the incorporation of amino acids into the proteins of fetal and maternal tissues. The data suggest a suppression of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in the fetus, but a stimulation of the biosynthesis of proteins.
Footnotes
- Received January 20, 1969.
- Accepted September 16, 1969.
- © 1970, by The Williams & Wilkins Company
JPET articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years.Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page.
|