Effect of biotin deficiency on protein and DNA synthesis in

Biotin acts as a prosthetic group for a number of enzymes that catalyse the fixation of carbon dioxide [1]. The administration of biotin to biotin-deficient rats stimulated the activities of several non-biotin-dependent enzymes including glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase [2, 3], and both cell-free amino acid incorporation into protein and orotic acid incorporation into nuclear RNA [4]. Furthermore, biotin stimulated the synthesis of rat serum albumin two-fold and that of various proteins to varying extents up to eight-fold [5]. In addition, biotin deficiency in chicks resulted in a decrease in the incorporation of 32p into RNA and DNA [6]. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of biotin deficiency on protein and DNA synthesis in human tissue has not been examined. We have used cultured human skin fibroblasts to study such an effect