Biochemical Lesion Research Articles

Sugary enhancer1 (se1) Gene Endosperm Dosage and Sweet Corn Carbohydrate Content

Inbreds IL451b sugary1 (su1) and IL678a su1 isogenic for the sugary enhancer1 (se1) gene mutation were used to analyze the relationship between se1 gene dosage and endosperm sugar content. Each line was self-pollinated and reciprocal crosses were made between the isolines of each genotype to produce se1 gene dosages of 0, 1, 2, and 3 in the triploid endosperm. Ears were harvested at 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, and 45 days after pollination (DAP). Whole kernels were freeze-dried, ground into powder, and stored at –80°C until subsequent chemical analyses. Sucrose, glucose and fructose were analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), the results of which indicated a significant increase in kernel sugar content when the se1 allele is homozygous. \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \[\begin{array}{lcl}&\underline{\mathrm{Sucrose\ content\ at}{\ }21{\ }\mathrm{DAP}(\%{\ }\mathrm{dry}{\ }\mathrm{wt})}&\\\underline{se1{\ }\mathrm{dose}}&\underline{\mathrm{IL}{\ }451\mathrm{b}}&\underline{\mathrm{IL}{\ }678\mathrm{a}}\\0&9.6&10.3\\1&8.0&10.7\\2&11.3&10.9\\3&15.8&12.2\end{array}\] \end{document} Sucrose content at 21 DAP (typical maturity for harvesting) was observed to increase in the IL451b and IL678a backgrounds from zero to three doses of se1 by 65% and 18% respectively, indicating that this mutation varies in its expression in different genetic backgrounds. Associations between kernel phytoglycogen and starch content and se1 gene dosage are presented. The biochemical lesion associated with the se1 gene product is discussed.

Immunologic alterations in bleomycin-treated mice: role of pulmonary fibrosis in the modulation of immune responses.

Among the side effects of bleomycin (BLM), a drug frequently used in the treatment of lymphomas and squamous-cell carcinomas, is pneumonitis with pulmonary fibrosis. The most prominent biochemical lesion associated with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic debilitating and sometimes fatal disease, is an increase in the levels of collagen in the lung parenchyma. The mechanisms involved in the induction of this disease are still unclear, although results have suggested that the development of fibrosis may be immunologically mediated. There have, however, been no reports in the literature on the frequency and function of lymphocytes in the regional and systemic lymphoid tissues in BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis. We therefore conducted a study, in which we inoculated C57Bl/6 mice intratracheally with BLM or saline, and tested the animals' lymphoid cells for various cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. The results indicated an increase in the number of lymphocytes in the lung-associated hilar lymph nodes, whereas the number of splenic lymphocytes was reduced as compared with control mice. Moreover, there was a significant inhibition of the antibody response to sheep erythrocytes in both the spleen and hilar lymph nodes of BLM-treated mice. Inhibition of the immune system appeared to be associated with the development of pulmonary fibrosis, and not to result from BLM toxicity, since the immune response of mice was not inhibited when they were injected with an identical dose of BLM under conditions that did not cause pulmonary fibrosis. Moreover, inhibition of splenic antibody responses was also observed in a hapten-induced model of pulmonary fibrosis, providing additional evidence that the induction of fibrosis and not the chemical toxicity of BLM was responsible for the modulation of immune responses.

Biological effects of pulsed near‐ultraviolet laser irradiation in mouse lymphoma cells (EL‐4)

Murine lymphoma EL-4 cells were exposed to different pulsed near-ultraviolet laser doses (337.1 nm), generated by light, to investigate some effects of this radiation on tumor cells using biophysical, biochemical, and cytogenetic methods. Our results reveal a good correlation between the growth rate of EL-4 cells and the interrogation irradiation, from 89.7% at 1.5 kJ/m2 to 17.8% at 4.5 kJ/m2. Nucleic acid synthesis was found to be inhibited at any laser irradiation dose. The morphological changes induced by laser irradiation of EL-4 cells and revealed by phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate a partial or total (depending on dose) loss of cellular microvillosities, the appearance of different kinds of buds and bleaching all over the cellular membrane, and also numerous necrotic lesions. By reversion of irradiated EL-4 cells, the presence of cells having morphological characteristics of lymphoid dendritic cells was observed by phase contrast and SEM. The cytogenetic analysis showed the presence of different chromosomal abnormalities: chromatidin and chromosomal fractures, rings, chromosomal markers, polyploids, and premature chromatid condensation. Our experimental results suggest the existence of morphological lesions as well as biochemical and genetic lesions induced by pulsed nearultraviolet laser doses in mouse lymphoma EL-4 cells.

Long-term persistence of hepatitis B virus DNA in the serum of children with chronic hepatitis B after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion.

To evaluate the prevalence and duration of viremia in relation to the features of liver disease, we investigated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA by the polymerase chain reaction in the serum of 39 children with chronic hepatitis B, after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion. During a mean observation period of 8.2 +/- 3.8 years after seroconversion, all patients were asymptomatic; 36 had persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels, and three had occasional mild alterations. Liver histology, checked in 21 patients, showed persistent hepatitis in nine, fibrosis in 10, and cirrhosis in two cases. HBV DNA was always undetectable by dot blot hybridization. Five children eventually cleared hepatitis B surface antigen, including one with cirrhosis who developed liver cancer at 19 years. HBV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in 87% of children within 5 years of follow-up, in 58% of cases 6-10 years after seroconversion (p < 0.001), and in 50% of patients investigated later. Long-term viremia was found in two patients (40%) who cleared HBsAg, including the one who developed liver cancer. The chances of clearing viremia during follow-up were higher in children with acute hepatitis at the onset of illness (86%) than in those with asymptomatic onset (37%; p < 0.05). Our results show that low levels of HBV viremia, probably reflecting low levels of virus replication, persist for several years in children with chronic hepatitis B after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion and remission of liver disease, even after the clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen. Persistent replication could support mild biochemical alterations and inflammatory liver lesions. It could allow late reactivation of liver disease and may play a role in the development of carcinoma.

Effects of Choline Depletion on the Circadian Rhythm in Neurospora crassa

One approach to identifying components of the circadian oscillator is to screen for clock defects in mutants with known biochemical lesions. The chol-1 mutant of Neurospora crassa is defective in the first methylation step of phosphatidylcholine synthesis, the conversion of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, and requires choline for normal growth. Choline depletion of this mutant inhibits growth and lengthens the period of the rhythm of conidiation. On high levels of choline (above 20 µM), the growth rate and the period of the rhythm are normal. Below about 10 µM choline, the growth rate and period length depend on the choline concentration, and the period is about 58 h on minimal medium without choline. Choline depletion decreases period stability, and replicate cultures do not remain in phase due to variability in period within each culture. At intermediate levels of choline (around 10 µM) cultures are often arrhythmic. The choline requirement for growth can be met by the ph...

Changes in taurine as an indicator of hepatic dysfunction and biochemical perturbations. Studies in vivo and in vitro.

We have shown that urinary taurine level may be used as a biomarker of pathological and biochemical lesions. Detection of changes in the urinary concentration of this low molecular weight metabolite indicates biochemical lesions which may also be associated with pathological damage. Hepatotoxic compounds such as CCl4, galactosamine and thioacetamide that cause hepatic necrosis and compounds such as hydrazine and ethionine that cause fatty liver all result in elevated urinary taurine levels in rats. However compounds which do not cause liver damage, such as cycloheximide, also raise urinary taurine levels. All of these substances are known to or are believed to inhibit protein synthesis. Conversely, compounds which increase protein synthesis, such as phenobarbital and clenbuterol, significantly decrease urinary taurine levels. Compounds which interfere with hepatic GSH synthesis will also change urinary taurine levels. Thus, depletion of GSH with diethyl maleate or phorone decreases urinary taurine whereas inhibition of GSH synthesis with compounds such as buthionine sulphoximine increases urinary taurine levels. In isolated hepatocytes in vitro, leakage of taurine occurs in response to cytotoxic compounds such as hydrazine and allyl alcohol. However, total taurine levels were increased by the hepatotoxicant CCl4. Taurine synthesis is decreased by depletion of GSH with allyl alcohol in isolated hepatocytes. Therefore taurine levels are an important potential biomarker for biochemical lesions induced by chemicals both in vivo and in vitro, in particular changes in protein and GSH synthesis.

Different respiratory-defective phenotypes of Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae after inactivation of the gene encoding the mitochondrial acyl carrier protein

The nuclear genes (acp-1, ACP1) encoding the mitochondrial acyl carrier protein were disrupted in Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In n. crassa acp-1 is a peripheral subunit of the respiratory NADH : ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I). S. cerevisiae lacks complex I and its ACP1 appears to be located in the mitochondrial matrix. The loss of acp-1 in N. crassa causes two biochemical lesions. Firstly, the peripheral part of complex I is not assembled, and the membrane part is not properly assembled. The respiratory ubiquinol : cytochrome c oxidoreductase (complex III) and cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV) are made in normal amounts. Secondly, the lysophospholipid content of mitochondrial membranes is increased four-fold. In S. cerevisiae, the loss of ACP1 leads to a pleiotropic respiratory deficient phenotype.

Thiamine Deficiency‐Induced Partial Necrosis and Mitochondrial Uncoupling in Neuroblastoma Cells Are Rapidly Reversed by Addition of Thiamine

Culture of neuroblastoma cells in a medium of low-thiamine concentration (6 nM) and in the presence of the transport inhibitor amprolium leads to the appearance of overt signs of necrosis; i.e., the chromatin condenses in dark patches, the oxygen consumption decreases, mitochondria are uncoupled, and their cristae are disorganized. Glutamate formed from glutamine is no longer oxidized and accumulates, suggesting that the thiamine diphosphate-dependent alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity is impaired. When thiamine (10 microM) is added to the cells, the O2 consumption increases, respiratory control is restored, and normal cell and mitochondrial morphology is recovered within 1 h. Succinate, which is oxidized via the thiamine diphosphate-independent succinate dehydrogenase, is also able to restore a normal O2 consumption (with respiratory control) in digitonin-permeabilized thiamine-deficient cells. Our results therefore suggest that the slowing of the citric acid cycle is the main cause of the biochemical lesion induced by thiamine deficiency as observed in Wernicke's encephalopathy.

Isolation and classification of chlorophyll-deficient xantha mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Mutant lines of Arabidopsis thaliana that are either blocked at various steps of the biosynthetic pathway of chlorophyll (Chl) or that are disturbed in one of the subsequent steps leading to the assembly of an active photosynthetic membrane were isolated by screening for Chl-deficient xantha (xan) mutants. Only mutants that segregated in a 3:1 ratio, that contained the same carotenoid spectrum as etiolated wild-type seedlings and less than 2% of the Chl of wild-type control seedlings, and whose Chl content was not affected by the addition of sucrose to the growth medium were selected for a more detailed analysis. As a final test for the classification of the selected mutants, light-grown xan mutants were vacuum-infiltrated and incubated with the common precursor of tetrapyrroles, delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), in the dark. Two major groups of mutants could be distinguished. Some of the mutants were blocked at various steps of the Chl pathway between ALA and protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) and did not accumulate the latter in the dark. The other mutants accumulated Pchlide in the dark regardless of whether exogenous ALA was added. This latter group could be subdivided into mutants with a biochemical lesion in a recently discovered second light-dependent Pchlide reduction step that occurs in green plants and mutants that have blocks in the assembly of Chl protein complexes. In the present work a total of seven different loci could be defined genetically in Arabidopsis that affect the synthesis of Chl and its integration into the growing photosynthetic membrane.

Cardiac levels of fibronectin, laminin, isomyosins, and cytochrome c oxidase of weanling rats are more vulnerable to copper deficiency than those of postweanling rats

The relative quantities of cardiac laminin, fibronectin, cytochrome c oxidase (CCO), and isomyosin types were studied by gel electrophoresis in male rats fed copper-deficient diets beginning either from the time of weaning for 5 weeks or from 5 weeks postweaning for 6 weeks with one group of copper-repleted rats. Increased levels of fibronectin and V 3 isomyosin but decreased levels of CCO subunit IV and laminin were found in weanling copper-depleted rats. In contrast, postweanling copper-depleted rats exhibited only increased levels of fibronectin and decreased levels of cardiac CCO subunit IV. Repletion of copper-deficient rats for 6 weeks was not sufficient to restore CCO subunit IV to the same level as controls. These results confirm that biochemical lesions in the basal laminae are a result of copper restriction. The decreased nuclear encoded subunits of CCO may help explain some of the mitochondrial pathology observed in dietary copper restriction. Increased V 3 isomyosin levels with low ATPase activity may help to conserve to a limited extent the ATP levels in copper-deficient cardiac tissue. These protein changes are consistent with the known morphological alterations of hearts from copper-restricted rats.

Identification of Biochemical Defects in Pancreatic Islets of fa/fa Rats: A Developmental Study

Adult obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats hypersecrete insulin in response to glucose and other secretagogues. Functional changes in islet alpha 2-adrenoceptors (8) and glycolytic regulation (9) have been reported. In this study, the development of these biochemical lesions in islets isolated from suckling (3 week old) and weanling (5 week old) lean and fa/fa rats was investigated and compared to results in adult animals. Glucose (15 mM)-induced insulin secretion was inhibited by mannoheptulose (MH) in lean (n = 8) but not fa/fa (n = 10) adult rats, indicating loss of sensitivity of glucokinase to competitive inhibition. Sensitivity to MH was somewhat reduced in the islets of 3- and 5-week-old fa/fa (n = 7 and 12) compared to lean (n = 15 and 9) rats, requiring 30-100 fold higher concentrations to achieve significant inhibition. At 3 weeks of age fa/fa rats did not differ from lean controls in either islet insulin content or body weight, but both parameters were increased in fa/fa rats by 5 weeks. The presence of altered alpha 2-adrenoceptor function in fa/fa rats could not be confirmed in this study. Unlike the previous report, prazosin did not antagonize alpha 2-agonist mediated inhibition of insulin secretion. The presence of defective regulation of the glycolytic pathway by mannoheptulose in suckling and weanling rats may contribute to development of hyperinsulinemia in fa/fa rats.

Use of urinary taurine and creatine as biomarkers of organ dysfunction and metabolic perturbations

We have shown that urinary taurine and creatine may be used as biomarkers of pathological and biochemical lesions. Detection of changes in the urinary concentration of these two low-molecular-weight metabolites indicates biochemical lesions which may also be associated with pathological damage. Thus changes in protein or glutathione metabolism will lead to changes in urinary taurine. Hepatotoxicants which cause necrosis, but do not affect glutathione status or reduce bile flow, cause taurinuria and creatinuria. Hepatotoxicants which cause fatty liver only cause taurinuria. Testicular toxicants only cause creatinuria. Compounds which result in increased glutathione synthesis, stimulate protein synthesis or reduce bile flow decrease urinary taurine. A combination of the two markers, therefore, can be used to help diagnose a variety of biochemical and pathological lesions.

Myocardial substrate metabolism: Implications for diabetic Cardiomyopathy

The incidence of mortality from cardiovascular diseases in higher in diabetic patients. The cause of this accelerated cardiovascular disease is multifactorial and, although atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in association with well-defined risk factors has an influence on morbidity and mortality in diabetics, myocardial cell dysfunction independent of vascular defects have also been defined. We postulate that these adverse cardiac effects could presumably result as a consequence of the following sequence of events. Major abnormalities in myocardial carbohydrate and lipid metabolism occur as a result of insulin deficiency. These changes are closely linked to the accumulation of various acylcarnitine and coenzyme derivatives. Abnormally high amounts of metabolic intermediates could cause disturbances in calcium homeostasis either directly or indirectly through structural and functional subcellular membrane alterations. Over time, chronic abnormalities such as reduced myosin ATPase activity, decreased ability of the sarcoplasmic reticulum to take up calcium as well as depression of other membrane enzymes such as Na(+)-K+ ATPase and Ca(2+)-ATPase leads to changes in calcium homeostasis and eventually to cardiac dysfunction. More importantly from the point of view of pharmacological intervention, during the initial stages, acute disturbances in both the glucose and FFA oxidative pathways may provide the initial biochemical lesion from which further events ensue. Thus therapies which target these metabolic aberrations in the heart during the early stages of diabetes, in effect, can potentially delay or impede the progression of more permanent sequelae which could ensue from otherwise uncontrolled derangements in cardiac metabolism. There is little dispute that an attempt should be made to lower raised plasma triglyceride and FFA levels. This would decrease the heart's reliance on fatty acids and, hence, overcome the fatty acid inhibition of myocardial glucose utilization. In this regard, the likely application of fatty acid oxidation inhibitors (CPT inhibitors, beta-oxidation inhibitors, sequestration of mitochondrial CoA) is also apparent.

A Comparative Study of Ochratoxin A-Induced Apoptosis in Hamster Kidney and HeLa Cells

Ochratoxin A (OA), produced by strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium, at a dose of 20 μg/ml caused nuclear and nucleolar changes characteristic of apoptosis in hamster kidney (HaK) and HeLa cells. However, the morphological and biochemical lesions were not identical in the two cell types. In HaK cells micronuclei formation in prophase and interphase cells predominated but in HeLa cells apoptotic body formation was more prevalent. Indirect immunofluorescence indicated that nucleolar morphology was affected in both cell types with segregation of the fibrillar and granular components of the nucleolus present after 24 hr exposure. [35S]Methionine incorporation into SDS-PAGE-separated proteins was decreased after continuous exposure for 24 hr, but after only 3 hr exposure, the synthesis of three proteins was markedly increased in HaK (≍ 39, 90, and 180 kDa) and HeLa (≍ 40, 92, and 150 kDa) cells. Enhanced early synthesis of proteins was more pronounced in HaK cells in the G1-phase and in HeLa cells in the S-phase. Internucleosomal DNA breaks, characteristic of apoptosis, were present in G1 and S-phase HaK cells exposed to OA. In contrast, DNA of very high molecular weight was seen in synchronized HeLa cells. The results indicate that OA may activate different cellular processes involved in the degradation of DNA in HaK and HeLa cells.

Identification of a biochemical lesion, and characteristic response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of a cultured macrophage-like cell mutant with defective LPS-binding.

We have previously isolated a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-resistant mutant (named LR-9) of a cultured macrophage-like cell line, J774.1. This mutant had defective LPS binding [Hara-Kuge, S., Amano, F., Nishijima, M., and Akamatsu, Y. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 6606-6610]. In this study, we found that: (1) LPS-binding to parental J774.1 cells was dependent on a serum factor with a molecular weight of about 60 kDa, probably LPS binding protein (LBP); (2) LPS-binding to J774.1 cells was markedly reduced by treating the cells with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC); (3) mutant LR-9 cells were defective in LPS-binding even in the presence of serum; (4) LR-9 cells lacked CD14 protein on flow cytometric and immunoblot analyses, but retained normal CD14 mRNA levels on RNA blot analysis; (5) small amounts of LPS (1 to 10 ng/ml) activated J774.1, but not LR-9 cells, to secrete tumor necrosis factor-alpha and to release arachidonate metabolites, whereas both J774.1 and LR-9 were activated by large concentrations of LPS (100 to 1,000 ng/ml). These results provide genetic evidence that CD14 molecules in J774.1 cells play a crucial role in LPS-binding and in LPS-triggered signal transduction, and indicate that large amounts of LPS can activate J774.1 cells without the participation of CD14 molecules.

Fumonisin- and AAL-Toxin-Induced Disruption of Sphingolipid Metabolism with Accumulation of Free Sphingoid Bases.

Fumonisins (FB) and AAL-toxin are sphingoid-like compounds produced by several species of fungi associated with plant diseases. In animal cells, both fumonisins produced by Fusarium moniliforme and AAL-toxin produced by Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici inhibit ceramide synthesis, an early biochemical event in the animal diseases associated with consumption of F. moniliforme-contaminated corn. In duckweed (Lemna pausicostata Heglem. 6746), tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), and tobacco callus (Nicotiana tabacum cv Wisconsin), pure FB1 or AAL-toxin caused a marked elevation of phytosphingosine and sphinganine, sphingoid bases normally present in low concentrations. The relative increases were quite different in the three plant systems. Nonetheless, disruption of sphingolipid metabolism was clearly a common feature in plants exposed to FB1 or AAL-toxin. Resistant varieties of tomato (Asc/Asc) were much less sensitive to toxin-induced increases in free sphinganine. Because free sphingoid bases are precursors to plant "ceramides," their accumulation suggests that the primary biochemical lesion is inhibition of de novo ceramide synthesis and reacylation of free sphingoid bases. Thus, in plants the disease symptoms associated with A. alternata and F. moniliforme infection may be due to disruption of sphingolipid metabolism.

On the genesis of somatization disorder: the role of the medical profession

The development of somatization disorder is supported by the way physicians focus on somatic complaints but fail to effectively diagnose and relieve them if a specific anatomic or biochemical lesion is not found. This inadequate treatment of somatizing patients may related to the focus of medical teaching as well as male skills, styles and vulnerabilities.

Altered mechanoreceptor response in Drosophila bang-sensitive mutants.

Bang-sensitive mutants of Drosophila melanogaster (bas1, bssMW1, eas2, tko25t) display seizure followed by paralysis when subjected to mechanical shock. However, no physiological or biochemical defect has been found to be common to all of these mutants. In order to observe the effects of bang-sensitive mutations upon an identified neuron, and to study the nature of mechanically induced paralysis, we examined the response of a mechanosensory neuron in these mutants. In each single mutant and the double mutant bas1 bssMW1, the frequency of action potentials in response to a bristle displacement was reduced. This is the first demonstration of a physiological defect common to several of the bang-sensitive mutations. Adaptation of spike frequency, cumulative adaptation to repeated stimulation (fatigue) and the time course of recovery from adaptation were also examined. Recovery from adaptation to a conditioning stimulus was examined in two mutants (bas1 and bssMW1), and initial recovery from adaptation was greater in both mutants. Quantification of receptor potentials was complicated by variability inherent in extracellular recording conditions, but examination of the waveform and range of amplitudes did not indicate clear mutant defects. Therefore the differences observed in the spike response may be due to an alteration of the transfer from receptor potentials to action potential production. DNA sequence analysis of tko and eas has indicated that they encode apparently unrelated biochemical products. Our results suggest that these biochemical lesions lead to a common physiological defect in mechanoreceptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bone marrow cells from vitamin B12- and folate-deficient patients misincorporate uracil into DNA

Bone marrow cells from 15 patients with normal deoxyuridine (dU) suppression test results, 3 healthy subjects, and 11 patients with megaloblastic anemia caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiency were examined for misincorporation of uracil into DNA. Cells were incubated with [5–3H] uridine for 2 hours and their DNA extracted. The DNA was hydrolyzed to deoxyribonucleosides with DNase 1, phosphodiesterase and alkaline phosphatase, and any dU present was separated from other deoxyribonucleosides by Aminex A6 chromatography. The quantity of dU/mg DNA and the radioactivity in the dU peak/mg DNA were then calculated. The results clearly showed that there was markedly increased uracil misincorporation into the DNA of vitamin B12- or folate-deficient marrow cells. Misincorporation of uracil into DNA may be an important biochemical lesion underlying both the megaloblastic change and the ineffectiveness of hematopoiesis in vitamin B12 and folate deficiency.

Bone Marrow Cells From Vitamin B12- and Folate-Deficient Patients Misincorporate Uracil Into DNA

AbstractBone marrow cells from 15 patients with normal deoxyuridine (dU) suppression test results, 3 healthy subjects, and 11 patients with megaloblastic anemia caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiency were examined for misincorporation of uracil into DNA. Cells were incubated with [5-3H] uridine for 2 hours and their DNA extracted. The DNA was hydrolyzed to deoxyribonucleosides with DNase 1, phosphodiesterase and alkaline phosphatase, and any dU present was separated from other deoxyribonucleosides by Aminex A6 chromatography. The quantity of dU/mg DNA and the radioactivity in the dU peak/mg DNA were then calculated. The results clearly showed that there was markedly increased uracil misincorporation into the DNA of vitamin B12- or folate-deficient marrow cells. Misincorporation of uracil into DNA may be an important biochemical lesion underlying both the megaloblastic change and the ineffectiveness of hematopoiesis in vitamin B12 and folate deficiency.