258 IV. THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE PHENOMENA 



enzyme-regulating factors. It should only be natural that enzymes 

 are regulated by hormones if hormones can interfere with genes. 

 Definite patterns of changes in enzyme concentration occur in tissues 

 and organs under the influence of hormones ; this is well illustrated 

 by the changes in the alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, adeno- 

 sine-triphosphatase, succinic dehydrogenase, malic dehydrogenase, and 

 total glycolysis of corpora lutea of the rat during pregnancy and 

 lactation (59). The action of hormones on enzymes has also been 

 demonstrated with the effect of insulin and some adrenal and pituitary 

 hormones on hexakinase. Insulin can increase glycogen formation 

 and glucose utilization in rat diaphragm incubated in vitro, and fur- 

 ther it also increases the incorporation of alanine into diaphragm 

 protein (60). Again, phosphorylase in the rabbit is inhibited by cor- 

 tisone and activated by adrenalin administration (61). These facts 

 may be attributed likewise to the influence of the hormone upon the 

 enzyme systems. 



An interesting finding throwing light on the nature of hormones 

 has been reported by Scatchard et al. (62). They have found that 

 albumin is stabilized remarkably by the addition of small quantities of 

 substances such as sodium caprylate and sodium salt of acetyltrypt- 

 ophan. By the addition of these substances the protein becomes so 

 stable as to stand heating at 60 C. for 10 hours. It should be noted 

 that these substances, which exhibit such a remarkable effect upon 

 albumin, have no influence on r-globulin, whereas this globulin is 

 stabilized by glycine and by certain simple sugars which are in 

 effective to albumin. This fact may indicate that the structure of a 

 protein is stabilized by the presence of a certain substance. It is 

 worthy of note that substances which can stabilize albumin fail to 

 effect any change in globulin, while grobulin is stabilized by other 

 substances which exhibit no effect on albumin. 



Hormones may be regarded as an agent which can exert such 

 specific effects on the structure of protoplasm protein. The deficiency 

 of a certain hormone may result in the destruction of certain struc- 

 ture in the protoplasm on which the hormone exerts its specifically 

 directive influence. Presumably hormones like genes can change the 

 structure of the protoplasm proteins in various ways according to 

 their specific properties and can maintain the structure. Further dis- 

 cussions on this subject will be made in detail in Part V. 



Some organisms appear to produce hormone-like substances for the 

 purpose of destroying some other organisms by taking advantage of 

 the striking effect of the substances to change the "crystal shape" of 

 protoplasm. The so-called antibiotics produced by microoganisms can 

 be regarded as such substances. The phenomenon of synergism and 



