Studies on acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase from rat mammary gland and mammary tumours

The activities of two lipogenic enzymes, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase, were determined in two transplantable mammary adenocarcinomas (13762 and R3230AC) carried by non-pregnant, pregnant and lactating rats, and in mammary tissue of control animals (non-tumour-carrying) of comparable physiological states. During mammary-gland differentiation of control or tumour-carrying animals, the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase in the lactating gland increased by about 40-50-fold over the values found in non-pregnant animals. On the other hand, in tumours carried by lactating dams there were only modest increases (1.5-2-fold) in acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase compared with the neoplasms carried by non-pregnant animals. On the basis of the Km values for different substrates and immunodiffusion and immunotitration data, the fatty acid synthase of neoplastic tissues appeared to be indistinguishable from the control mammary-gland enzyme. However, a comparison of the immunotitration and immunodiffusion experiments indicated that the mammary-gland acetyl-CoA carboxylase might differ from the enzyme present in mammary neoplasms.