The Modulating Effect of Amino Acids on an Organotypic Culture of Lymphoid Tissue

N. I. Chalisova a # and A. V. Komashnya b

# Fax: (812) 328-05-01, e-mail: ni_chalisova@mail.ru
a Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, nab. Makarova 6, St . Petersburg , 199032 Russia
b St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, Northwestern Branch, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Dinamo pr. 3, St . Petersburg , 197110 Russia

Received August 3, 2005; in final form, October 19, 2005

Abstract: The effect of 20 essential and nonessential L-amino acids on the dynamics of development of spleen explants from 1- and 21-day-old rats on an organotypic tissue culture was studied. The hydrophilic amino acids with a higher molecular mass (asparagine, lysine, arginine, and glutamic acid) induced an inhibitory effect on the growth zone of explants of immature tissue from 1-day-old animals and an opposite, stimulating effect on the mature spleen tissue of 21-day-old rats. An immunohistochemical analysis revealed a reciprocal correlation between the expression of the proapoptotic protein p53 and the cell proliferation upon the action of lysine, asparagine, and glutamic acid. The role of polar amino acids in the modulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis in dependence on the period of ontogenesis was determined.

Key words: amino acids, apoptosis, cell proliferation, modulating effect of amino acids, tissue culture

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry 2006, 32 (3):255-260