引言多胺是发现于所有生物体中的一类碱性小分子化合物的总称。动物细胞中的这类化合物通常由腐胺,精脒和精胺所组成。这三者一起形成一条简单的生物合成途径(见图)。腐胺和精脒也见于原核细胞,但是精胺似乎仅由真核细胞合成。研究了一些动物系统中多胺的合成和含量。这些研究显示出两个共有的特点。其一是任何组织其生长速率有显 Introduction Polyamines are a collective term for a group of basic small molecule compounds found in all organisms. Such compounds in animal cells usually consist of putrescine, spermidine and spermine. Together these three forms a simple biosynthetic pathway (see figure). Putrescine and spermidine are also found in prokaryotes, but spermine seems to be synthesized only by eukaryotic cells. The synthesis and content of polyamines in some animal systems were studied. These studies show two common characteristics. One is that any organization has a significant growth rate