During neoplastic development, several aspects of the regulation of polyamine synthesis
undergo profound changes. In extrahepatic mammalian tissues in which the urea cycle is
not functioning, arginase is believed to supply the cell with ornithine, a non-protein amino
acid that is a precursor for biosynthesis of polyamines. Because the activity of ornithine
decarboxylase and polyamine levels have been shown to be elevated during
carcinogenesis, we decided to investigate the role of arginase in the development of …