Identification and molecular characterization of the Choristoneura fumiferana multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus genomic region encoding the regulatory genes pkip, p47, lef-12, and gta.

Choristoneura fumiferana multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (CfMNPV) is a baculovirus pathogenic to spruce budworm, the most damaging insect pest in Canadian forestry. CfMNPV is less virulent to its host insect and its replication cycle is slower than the baculovirus type species Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) but the basis of these characteristics is not known. We have now identified, localized, and determined the sequence of the region of CfMNPV carrying potentially important regulatory genes including p47, lef-12, gta, and pkip. DNA database searches revealed that this region of CfMNPV is most closely related to the homologous OpMNPV genes. Transcription analysis demonstrated that CfMNPV P47 is encoded by a 1.6-kb transcript, LEF-12 is encoded by a 2.6-kb transcript, and GTA is encoded by a 2.1-kb transcript. Transcripts for these genes were detectable at 6 h postinfection but all of them showed a burst in expression levels between 12 and 24 h postinfection corresponding to the time of initiation of CfMNPV DNA replication. A polyclonal antibody, raised against CfMNPV P47, detected a nuclear 43-kDa polypeptide from 12 to 72 h postinfection, demonstrating that the CfMNPV p47 gene product is first expressed at a time corresponding to the burst of transcriptional activity between the early and the late phases. Both AcMNPV and CfMNPV P47 translocate to the nucleus of infected cells.

Transfected human liver cytochrome P-450 hydroxylates vitamin D analogs at different side-chain positions.

A full-length cDNA for the human liver mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 CYP27 was cloned from a human hepatoma HepG2 cDNA library and then subcloned into the mammalian expression vector pSG5. When CYP27 cDNA was transfected into COS-1 transformed monkey kidney cells along with adrenodoxin cDNA, transfected cells revealed a 10- to 20-fold higher vitamin D3-25-hydroxylase activity than nontransfected cells. Transfected cells were capable of 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D3, 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and 1 alpha-hydroxydihydrotachysterol3. In each case they also showed the ability to 26(27)-hydroxylate the cholesterol-like (D3) side chain. The relative rates of 25- and 26(27)-hydroxylation of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 approximately mimicked the ratio of products observed in HepG2 cells. Vitamin D2 and 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D2, both with the ergosterol-like side chain, were 24- and 26(27)-hydroxylated by CYP27. The rate of side-chain 24-, 25-, or 26(27)-hydroxylation was greater for 1 alpha-hydroxylated vitamin D analogs than for their nonhydroxylated counterparts. We conclude that CYP27 is capable of 24-, 25-, and 26(27)-hydroxylation of vitamin D analogs and that the nature of products is partially dictated by the side chain of the substrate. This work has revealed that the cytochrome P-450 CYP27 may be important in the metabolism of vitamin D analogs used as drugs.

Elevation of delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase and cytochrome PB1 P450 messenger RNA levels by dihydropyridines, dihydroquinolines, sydnones, and N-ethylprotoporphyrin IX.

A series of compounds that increase the activity of delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS) in chick embryo hepatocyte cultures were studied for their effects on steady-state levels of mRNA for ALAS and phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome PB1 P450. N-Ethylprotoporphyrin IX (N-EtPP), which is believed to lower heme levels by inhibition of ferrochelatase (FC), had little effect on steady-state ALAS mRNA levels. 3,5-Diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4- isobutylpyridine (4-isobutyl DDC), which is believed to lower heme levels by repetitive destruction of the heme moiety of cytochrome P450, increased steady-state levels of ALAS mRNA levels approximately 2-fold. 3,5-Diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-ethylpyridine (4-ethyl DCC) which inhibits FC activity and destroys the heme moiety of cytochrome P450, increased ALAS mRNA levels approximately 4-fold. A combination of N-EtPP and 4-isobutyl DDC produced a synergistic increase in ALAS mRNA levels to approximately 6-fold over control levels. The synergistic increase in ALAS activity observed previously with this combination can be explained, at least in part, by a synergistic increase in ALAS mRNA levels. Other porphyrinogenic agents, which function as mechanism-based inactivators of cytochrome P450 and elevate ALAS activity, were found to elevate ALAS mRNA. These compounds included 3-[2-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)thioethyl]-4-methylsydnone (TTMS), 2,4-diethyl-2-methyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (DMDQ), and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2,dihydroquinoline (TMDQ). The elevation of ALAS mRNA by these porphyrinogenic agents is probably due to their lowering of cellular heme levels by a combination of ferrochelatase inhibition and repetitive destruction of the heme moiety of cytochrome P450. The lowering of heme levels should result in an enhancement of ALAS mRNA half-life as it has been demonstrated by others that heme shortens the half-life of ALAS mRNA. It was of interest that some of these drug treatments also caused an elevation in steady-state levels of cytochrome PB1 P450 mRNA; the exception was TTMS, which along with its analogue 3-(2-phenylethyl)-4-methylsydnone (PEMS), did not alter cytochrome PB1 P450 mRNA levels. Increases in steady-state levels of cytochrome PB1 P450 mRNA subsequent to increases in steady-state levels of ALAS mRNA were observed with 4-ethyl DDC, 4-isobutyl DDC, DMDQ, and TMDQ. The data obtained with N-EtPP and a combination of N-EtPP and 4-isobutyl DDC on cytochrome PB1 P450 mRNA levels do not support the contention that heme functions as a positive regulator of cytochrome P450 gene expression.

Constitutive expression of calpain II in the rat uterus during pregnancy and involution.

Partial genomic clones for the 80 kDa subunits of rat calpains I and II have been isolated. Some exons have been located and sequenced, and used to synthesize RNA probes specific for each isoenzyme. The levels of total DNA, soluble protein, calpain II 80 kDa subunit and the mRNA for this subunit were measured in parallel in separate extracts of non-pregnant, pregnant and post-partum rat uteri. The amount of total DNA, expressed as mg/g wet wt. of tissue, was found to remain constant throughout this period, except for a slight rise during involution. Calpain I was present in all samples in very small amounts. The amounts of calpain II 80 kDa subunit (measured on immunoblots) and of its mRNA (measured by means of slot-blots) also did not vary, when expressed in terms of units per g wet wt., during the 10-fold growth of the uterus during pregnancy and its post-partum involution. It was concluded that expression of calpain II was constitutive in this normal tissue, which is undergoing rapid growth and involution under complex hormonal control.

Hormonal regulation of lipogenic enzymes in chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Expression of the fatty acid synthase gene is regulated at both translational and pretranslational steps.

Mechanisms involved in the multihormonal regulation of fatty acid synthase have been investigated by comparing levels of its mRNA with rates of enzyme synthesis in chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Triiodothyronine or insulin caused about a 2.5-fold increase in the relative rate of synthesis of fatty acid synthase. Together, these hormones were synergistic, stimulating enzyme synthesis by nearly 40-fold (Fischer, P.W.F., and Goodridge, A.G. (1978) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 190, 332-344). Addition of triiodothyronine stimulated increases in mRNA levels comparable to increases in enzyme synthesis whether insulin was present or not. Thus, triiodothyronine regulates fatty acid synthase primarily by controlling the amount of its mRNA. Addition of insulin, in the presence of triiodothyronine, stimulated enzyme synthesis by 14-fold and mRNA levels by only 2-fold. In the absence of triiodothyronine, insulin had no effect on mRNA levels. Thus, insulin has a major effect on the translation of fatty acid synthase mRNA. After the addition of triiodothyronine, fatty acid synthase mRNA accumulated with sigmoidal kinetics, approaching a new steady state about 48 h after the addition of hormone. Puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, blocked the effect of triiodothyronine. We suggest that the abundances of both fatty acid synthase and malic enzyme mRNAs are regulated by a common triiodothyronine-induced peptide intermediate which has a relatively long half-life. Glucagon caused an 80% decrease in the synthesis of fatty acid synthase (Fischer, P.W.F., and Goodridge, A.G. (1978) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 190, 332-344) and a 60% decrease in the level of fatty acid synthase mRNA. Thus, glucagon regulates fatty acid synthase by controlling the concentration of its mRNA. The synthesis of malic enzyme also was inhibited by glucagon at a pretranslational step, but the inhibition was almost complete. Thus, despite coordinated regulation of the concentrations of these enzymes during starvation and refeeding, individual hormones sometimes regulate synthesis of the two enzymes at the same step and to about the same degree and sometimes at different steps or to very different degrees.

Hormonal regulation of lipogenic enzymes in chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Thyroid hormone and glucagon regulate malic enzyme mRNA level at post-transcriptional steps.

Mechanisms involved in stimulation of the synthesis of malic enzyme by insulin and triiodothyronine and in inhibition of synthesis by glucagon have been investigated by assessing levels and rates of synthesis of malic enzyme mRNA in chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Insulin alone had no effect on the level of malic enzyme mRNA, whereas triiodothyronine by itself caused a 7-fold increase. Insulin plus triiodothyronine caused an 11-fold increase. Glucagon caused a 93% decrease in the accumulation of malic enzyme mRNA caused by insulin plus triiodothyronine. Although the relative changes in mRNA level are smaller in magnitude, they are qualitatively similar to the effects of these hormones on synthesis of malic enzyme, suggesting that control is exerted primarily at pretranslational steps. After addition of triiodothyronine, malic enzyme mRNA accumulated with sigmoidal kinetics, approaching a new steady state at 36-48 h after adding hormone. Puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, blocked the effect of triiodothyronine if added 30 min prior to the hormone and inhibited further accumulation of malic enzyme mRNA if added 24 h after triiodothyronine. However, puromycin had no effect on the level of beta-tubulin mRNA (t1/2 = 3-5 h), suggesting that the effect of triiodothyronine on malic enzyme mRNA required synthesis of a peptide. Triiodothyronine increased transcription of the malic enzyme gene by 2-fold and level of its mRNA by 11-14-fold, indicating regulation is primarily at a post-transcriptional step. Glucagon caused malic enzyme mRNA to decay with a half-life of 1.5 h, whereas alpha-amanitin or actinomycin D, inhibitors of transcription, caused the mRNA to decay with a half-life of 8-11 h. The effect of glucagon was entirely post-transcriptional because the hormone had no effect on transcription. Taken together, these results suggest a model in which triiodothyronine regulates production of a peptide that stabilizes malic enzyme transcripts in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus. Glucagon may inhibit activity of the peptide induced by triiodothyronine.

The fatty acid synthase gene in avian liver. Two mRNAs are expressed and regulated in parallel by feeding, primarily at the level of transcription.

The rates of synthesis of fatty acid synthase and the levels of its mRNA are high in livers of chicks, ducklings, or goslings fed high-carbohydrate mash diets and low in livers of starved birds, indicating pretranslational regulation of fatty acid synthase activity. Determination of the step(s) at which the nutritional state regulates the fatty acid synthase mRNA level was the objective of this study. Total RNA extracted from gosling or duckling liver contains two discrete fatty acid synthase transcripts, one of about 12,200 nucleotides and the other about 10,800 nucleotides. Both mRNAs are transcribed from the same gene because there is only one fatty acid synthase gene/haploid genome. A combination of 1) comparison of restriction fragment lengths in genomic DNA and cloned fatty acid synthase cDNAs, 2) differential hybridization of cloned cDNAs to the two mRNAs, and 3) sequence analysis indicates that the longer mRNA is a 3'-extension of the shorter one. The half-lives for fatty acid synthase mRNAs in fed ducklings and in starved ducklings were estimated from the rate at which mRNA level approached steady state during starvation or refeeding. The amount of fatty acid synthase mRNA in total liver RNA increased rapidly when starved ducklings were fed a high-carbohydrate mash diet, reaching an apparent steady state of 10 times the initial level after 9 h. The kinetics of accumulation suggested a half-life of 4-6 h for fatty acid synthase mRNA in fed ducklings. When fed ducklings were starved, fatty acid synthase mRNA decayed with a half-life of about 3 h. Therefore, the half-life for fatty acid synthase mRNA appeared to be little affected by feeding or starvation. The levels of both mRNAs changed in parallel indicating that half-lives of the two mRNAs were not regulated differentially. Transcription of the fatty acid synthase gene, as measured in isolated nuclei, increased about 10-fold when starved ducklings were refed for 24-30 h. Most of the increase in transcription occurred within 45 min after feeding was initiated. However, when fed ducklings were starved, the initial decrease in fatty acid synthase mRNA level occurred more rapidly than the decrease in transcription of the fatty acid synthase gene, indicating some degree of post-transcriptional regulation. Nevertheless, after 48 h of starvation, both mRNA level and transcription were decreased to the same extent. Nutritional state, therefore, regulates the transcription of two fatty acid synthase mRNAs from a unique gene. In addition, transient regulation occurs at an as yet undefined post-transcriptional step.

Regulation of genes for enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis.

The levels of malic enzyme and fatty acid synthase are increased by feeding and decreased by starvation in liver in vivo and are increased by triiodothyronine and decreased by glucagon in hepatocytes in culture. Cloned malic enzyme and fatty acid synthase cDNAs are being used to analyze regulation of these unique genes. Dietary regulation of both enzymes occurs at pretranslational steps. Increased transcription and increased mRNA stability contribute about equally to a 20-fold increase in malic enzyme mRNA level when starved ducklings are refed. In contrast, a 10-fold increase in the level of fatty acid synthase mRNA is largely accounted for by increased transcription of this gene. In chick-embryo hepatocytes incubated in serum-free medium containing insulin, triiodothyronine causes a greater than 10-fold increase in levels of both malic enzyme and fatty acid synthase mRNAs. Kinetic and inhibitor experiments suggest a protein intermediate in the increases of malic enzyme and fatty acid synthase mRNAs caused by triiodothyronine. For malic enzyme, the stimulation by triiodothyronine is predominantly posttranscriptional. Glucagon decreases the level of malic enzyme mRNA by 90 to 95%, with regulation occurring at a posttranscriptional step. Inhibitor experiments suggest that stimulation of the degradation of malic enzyme mRNA is partially responsible. Glucagon inhibited fatty acid synthase mRNA level by less than 50%; the inhibited step has not been identified. Thus, the coordinated regulation of malic enzyme and fatty acid synthase proteins by nutritional state may involve different hormones regulating at different points. A surprisingly large component of the regulation is posttranscriptional.

Effects of diet and selected hormones on the activities of hepatic malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in infant, prematurely weaned rats.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were weaned on postnatal d 17 to isocaloric diets in which fat supplied either 10% (PWC group) or 65% (PWF group) of the available energy. Compared with animals left with the dams to be weaned spontaneously to the maternal low fat diet (SWC group), the PWC rats showed early increases in the activities of liver glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) and malic enzyme (ME). The activity of G-6-PD was diminished in the PWF group, but the early rise in liver ME activity attendant on premature weaning was not prevented. Premature weaning, regardless of diet, decreased plasma glucagon levels within 1 d. Hydrocortisone failed to evoke hepatic ME activity in SWC rats; similarly, corticosterone and insulin, separately or together, did not affect ME activity in SWC rats. However, triiodothyronine evoked hepatic ME appearance within 1 d. Glucagon suppressed the expected rise in hepatic ME activity in PWC rats; in contrast, injection of glucagon antiserum into SWC rats led to the appearance of liver ME within 2 d. The data indicated that interaction among diet, glucagon and thyroid hormones may be part of the mechanism regulating the first appearance of ME in rat liver.

Weaning and metabolic regulation in the rat.

Premature weaning of rats to high carbohydrate diets causes a variety of short- and long-term changes in lipid metabolism, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. It is likely that interaction of diet with certain emerging hormonal control patterns during weaning might condition metabolic control and (or) subsequent adaptations in the adult organism. This implies that the adaptive responses of infant animals to diet may differ from those of the mature organism. For example, premature weaning leads to early appearance of rat liver malic enzyme (ME), even when fat supplies as much as 65% of the dietary energy; the same diet suppresses ME activity in 45-day-old rats. The levels of plasma glucagon and thyroid hormones are elevated during the weaning period. Several studies have shown that triiodothyronine evokes hepatic ME in suckling rats. Conversely, glucagon infusion into prematurely weaned rats suppresses the early appearance of the enzyme. Premature weaning, regardless of fat intake, leads to a rapid decline in plasma glucagon levels. Since glucagon is known to antagonize the actions of triiodothyronine on liver ME, the interaction of diet with glucagon and thyroid hormones is conceivably part of the mechanism responsible for the early appearance of hepatic malic enzyme, whereby the decline of plasma glucagon permits triiodothyronine to act on liver ME. Insulin probably exerts a permissive action subsequently. The manner in which these events relate to the long-term consequences of premature weaning is unknown.

Nutritional regulation of the synthesis and degradation of malic enzyme messenger RNA in duck liver.

The amount of malic enzyme mRNA in total liver RNA increased rapidly when starved ducklings were fed a high-carbohydrate mash diet, reaching 15 times the initial level at 9 h and an apparent steady state, about 20 times the initial level, at 24 h. Based on the kinetics of accumulation, malic enzyme mRNA had a half-life of 3-5 h in the livers of fed ducklings. When fed ducklings were starved, malic enzyme mRNA decreased with a half-life of about 1 h. Feeding, therefore, may have inhibited the degradation of malic enzyme mRNA, but not sufficiently to account for the 20-fold increase in mRNA level. The level of malic enzyme sequences in nuclear RNA increased severalfold when starved ducklings were fed, consistent with a stimulation of transcription. The rate of transcription of the malic enzyme gene, as measured in isolated nuclei, increased 3-5-fold when starved ducklings were refed. Starvation of fed animals caused a 55-65% inhibition of the transcription of the malic enzyme gene. Synthesis of albumin mRNA was little affected by refeeding or starvation, indicating that the observed effects on synthesis of malic enzyme mRNA were selective. We conclude that both increased transcription and decreased degradation contribute to the 20-fold increase in malic enzyme mRNA caused by feeding starved ducklings.

Developmental and nutritional regulation of the messenger RNAs for fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme and albumin in the livers of embryonic and newly-hatched chicks.

The mRNAs for fatty acid synthase and malic enzyme were almost undetectable in total RNA extracted from the livers of 16-day old chick embryos. Both mRNAs increased in abundance between the 16th day of incubation and the day of hatching. In neonates, fatty acid synthase mRNA level was dependent on nutritional status, increasing slowly if the chicks were starved and rapidly if they were fed. The abundance of malic enzyme mRNA decreased in starved neonatal chicks and increased in fed ones. When neonates were first fed and then starved, starvation caused a large decrease in the abundance of both mRNAs. Conversely, feeding, after a period of starvation, resulted in a substantial increase in both mRNAs. The relative abundances of fatty acid synthase and malic enzyme mRNAs correlated positively with relative rates of enzyme synthesis. Thus, nutritional and hormonal regulation of the synthesis of these two 'lipogenic' enzymes is exerted primarily at a pre-translational level. The abundance of albumin mRNA decreased significantly between the 16th day of incubation and the day of hatching but did not change thereafter in fed or starved chicks. The relative stability of albumin mRNA levels after hatching attests to the selectivity of the nutritional regulation of fatty acid synthase and malic enzyme mRNAs. The decrease in albumin mRNA which occurred between 16 days of incubation and hatching contrasts with the increase in albumin mRNA sequences which occurred during late gestation in the fetal rat (20). High levels of albumin in the chick embryo may be related to the lack of an analogue of mammalian alpha-fetoprotein in birds.

A cloned cDNA for duck malic enzyme detects abnormally large malic enzyme mRNAs in a strain of mice (Mod-1n) that does not express malic enzyme protein.

Sensitive immunochemical assays were used to measure the mass and rate of synthesis of malic enzyme protein in wild-type and Mod-1n mutant mice fed a high carbohydrate/low fat diet supplemented with thyroid hormone. Malic enzyme activity in the fed, wild-type mice was 100-fold higher than in starved, wild-type mice. Neither activity, mass, nor synthesis of malic enzyme could be detected in fed, mutant mice. However, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase responded to these dietary manipulations with normal or supranormal increases in activities, respectively, in mutant mice. A cDNA clone containing an almost complete copy of the mRNA for malic enzyme from duck liver was used to analyze poly(A+) RNA from C57BL/6J-DBA/2J hybrid mice that had been fasted and refed a high carbohydrate/low fat diet supplemented with thyroid hormone. The 32P-cDNA probe hybridized to two RNAs of 2250 and 2950 nucleotides. The same two RNAs were detected in RNA from starved mice except at much lower concentrations. A similar analysis of RNA from Mod-1n mice fed the high carbohydrate-thyroid diet also revealed two hybridizing RNAs but each was 700-800 nucleotides longer than its counterpart in wild-type mice. The abundance of malic enzyme mRNA in the fed, mutant mice was about the same as that in fed, wild-type mice. The mutant malic enzyme mRNAs also were present in RNA from starved mice but at much lower concentrations. These results suggest that the mutation responsible for the Mod-1n phenotype is in the structural gene for malic enzyme.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Immunoquantitation of liver glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme in normally and prematurely weaned rats.

Rat liver glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme were purified and rabbit serum antibodies were prepared against each enzyme. The activities and quantities of both enzymes in the livers of infant rats were subsequently determined during the weaning period. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was present and active in the liver of spontaneously weaned rats on postnatal day 17 and increased from postnatal day 21 onwards. Malic enzyme and its activity were undetectable on postnatal day 17. The latter enzyme was detected on postnatal day 21 and increased rapidly afterwards. These changes occurred sooner and were more pronounced when the rats were weaned prematurely on postnatal day 17, especially when the diet contained sucrose. The activities of both enzymes were highly correlated with the amounts of enzyme protein present throughout the experiment. It appeared that the activities of both enzymes in infant rats were likely to be regulated by altering their synthesis and (or) degradation, rather than by activation of existing proteins, assuming that the latter can be detected by the antibodies employed.

Effects of premature weaning on the metabolic response to dietary sucrose in adult rats.

Male, Sprague-Dawley rats were weaned prematurely (postnatal day 17) to a starch-based diet. At the age of 182 days, half of the rats were fed for 14 days a diet in which sucrose supplied 40% of the energy. Early weaning led to increases in the activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and malic enzyme (ME). Compared with spontaneously weaned rats, prematurely weaned animals also showed increases in hepatic lipogenesis in vivo and in liver cholesterol levels. However, early weaning did not influence intraperitoneal glucose tolerance, plasma cholesterol concentrations or the activities of hepatic ketohexokinase (KHK), fructose-1-phosphate aldolase (FIPA) and triokinase (TK). Sucrose feeding led to deterioration of glucose tolerance and to enhanced hepatic lipogenesis in vivo. Sucrose-fed rats also showed increases in the total activities of hepatic G6PD, ME, KHK, FIPA and TK. There was a positive interaction in effects on liver size between early weaning and dietary sucrose. In general, however, there were no differences between prematurely and normally weaned rats in their responses to sucrose. The results did not support the idea that dietary adaptations in early life alter the manner in which adult rats respond to dietary stimuli.

Immediate and late effects of premature weaning of rats to diets containing starch or low levels of sucrose.

Male, Sprague-Dawley rats were weaned prematurely (post-natal day 17) to a starch-based diet. Compared with normally-weaned rats, prematurely-weaned animals showed increases in the activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and malic enzyme (ME), and a fall in serum cholesterol level within 1 day. These enzymatic changes occurred sooner and were more pronounced when the diet of prematurely-weaned rats supplied 20% of the energy from sucrose, but the initial fall in serum cholesterol levels was smaller than in animals weaned prematurely to the control diet. Sucrose also led to an early rise in the activity of hepatic triokinase, but did not influence ketohexokinase or fructose-1-phosphate aldolase. Sucrose consumption resulted in an increase in lipogenesis in vivo in the liver and carcass and in serum cholesterol concentration on postnatal day 30, but animals weaned to the control diet were comparable with normally-weaned rats at the time. Early weaning led to elevation in the activities of hepatic G6PD and ME in 122-day-old rats, even though the control diet was fed from the age of 30 days. This response was not altered by the type of carbohydrate fed during the initial weaning period. Sucrose consumption during the weaning period did not exert long-term effects on the activities of hepatic fructolytic enzymes or in serum cholesterol levels.