Uterotrophic effect of a saturated fatty acid 17-ester of estradiol-17beta administered orally to juvenile rats.

In comparison to estradiol-17beta, the naturally synthesized estradiol-17beta-17-fatty acid esters are potent estrogens when administered subcutaneously. A lipophilic character of estradiol-17-esters could partially protect them from metabolic inactivation. In order to compare their relative estrogenic potency when administered orally, the uterotrophic response to different dosages (0, 2.

Expression of the genes of arginine-synthesizing enzymes in the rat kidney during development.

The expression of two genes, coding for argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) and argininosuccinate lyase (ASL), enzymes which synthesize arginine, was studied by Northern analysis in various tissues of fetal rats. The highest expression of both genes was seen in the small intestine, liver and kidney of the fetus. The developmental expression was observed in the kidney where both mRNA levels remained low during the fetal period and they increased concomitantly in both kidney and liver throughout the perinatal life, suggesting that the aptitude to synthesize arginine appeared and developed within the same period in both organs.

Regulation of argininosuccinate synthetase mRNA level in rat foetal hepatocytes.

Expression of the hepatic gene for argininosuccinate synthase (ASS), one of the key enzymes of the urea cycle, was analysed during the perinatal period in the rat. To this end, the amount of specific mRNA was measured in the liver at various stages of development and in cultured foetal hepatocytes maintained in different hormonal conditions. The ASS mRNA was first detected in 15.