Polyamines and neoplastic growth:stabilization of ornithine decarboxylase during transformation

Transformation of chick embryo fibroblasts by Rous sarcoma virus leads to the stabilization of ornithine decarboxylaes. A two-fold increase in the half-life of the enzyme is noted after infection with the wild type Schmidt-Ruppin, but not after infection with the temperature-sensitive mutant T5, under restrictive conditions. The half-life of the enzyme doubles soon after shifting the temperature of a RSV-T5 infected culture from 42° to 37° and after adding fresh medium to cultures of normal chick embryo fibroblasts at relative high densities.