Formation of superoxide radicals in membranes of subcellular organelles in regenerating liver

: A correlation between the changes in the rates of superoxide radical generation, upsilon, in microsomes, mitochondria, and nuclei and the Cu, Zn- and Mn-SOD activities in rat liver during the first 5 days after partial hepatectomy, has been studied. Level of upsilon in microsomal and mitochondrial membranes in the regeneration process was reduced. The Cu, Zn- and Mn-SOD activities changed in an extreme and antibate manner: the former was characterized by a minimum, whereas the latter-by a maximum with an extreme on the 3rd day after surgery. Analysis of the correlation between the values of upsilon in the nuclear membranes and cell cycle stages (on a literary basis) revealed that the upsilon was decreased 2 times on the stage of DNA synthesis. When mitosis was at maximum, upsilon showed a 4-5-fold increase in comparison with the control, the Cu, Zn-SOD activity being essentially unchanged. A role of SOD and O2-. in cell division is postulated. O2-. is assumed to play a role in gene expression, disassembly, and regeneration of the nuclear membrane; that of SOD is thought to consist in regulation of the proliferative activity.