Studies on the in vivo uptake and incorporation of 1-14C-labeled D-hexosamines in tissues, mucopolysaccharide-peptide complexes, and glycosaminoglycans of the domestic fowl.

The incorporation of radioactivity from D-[1-14C]glucosamine and D-[1-14C]galactosamine into the tissues of skin, comb, wattle, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, heart, ovaries, egg yolk, infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, shell gland, and vagina of the White Leghorn laying hens was studied for different time intervals up to 120 h. A total of 28 laying hens were involved in this experimentation. The radioactivity was measured in the above whole tissue, the acetone extracts, the acetone-extracted tissues, the mucopolysaccharide-peptide complex (MPS-P), and in individual glycosaminoglycan (GAG) isolated from skin, comb, liver, kidney, and egg yolk. The radioactivities of the expired CO2 of the eggs and of the excreted urine and faeces were also measured in some cases. There was an increase in 14C associated with MPS-P with increasing time of experiment in all the tissues studied except in the case of the liver. The rate of increase of radioactivity was dependent on the tissue. A useful scheme for the study of the speed of the formation of GAG is to consider the acetone extract and the acetone-extracted tissue as macrocompartments from where the GAG draw hexosamines for their formation.