Implantation of Exogenous Enzymatic Activity in Isolated Alveolar Macrophages
James Theodore 1,
Julio C. Acevedo 1, and
Eugene D. Robin 1
1 Departments of Medicine and Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305
Alveolar macrophages acquired the capacity to oxidize uric acid after exposure to uricase. Presumably this resulted from intracellular incorporation of the enzyme by endocytosis. This approach may provide a general method for (i) testing regulatory biochemical mechanisms, (ii) therapeutic replacement of deficient regulatory macromolecules, and (iii) studying environmental factors that produce genetic alterations.