We have developed a clonal variant, named DF-40, from the N2a mouse neuroblastoma cell line, which has the ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxylase, EC 4.1.1.17, ODC) gene amplified. When DF-40 cells were maintained in a simple salt glucose medium (e.g. Earle's blanced salt solution), L-asparagine alone was sufficient to induce a maximal increase in ODC activity. The increase in ODC activity correlated well with an increase in the amount of ODC protein. Northern blot analysis indicated that asparagine caused a 12-15-fold increase in ODC mRNA. The half-life of ODC mRNA induced by asparagine in DF-40 cells changed from more than 8 h to about 25 min upon removal of asparagine from the culture in the presence of actinomycin D. In contrast, asparagine had little or no effect on the rate of transcription of the ODC gene. Pulse labeling of cells for 15 min with [35S]methionine showed a 90-140-fold increase in the synthesis of ODC protein after 4-8 h of incubation with asparagine. The removal of asparagine from the medium resulted in a rapid loss of ODC protein with a half-life as short as 12 min. The presence of asparagine increased the half-life of ODC protein by 3-5-fold when measured in the presence of cycloheximide. Taken together, our data show that asparagine induced ODC gene expression in DF-40 cells, primarily by post-transcriptional stabilization of ODC mRNA. In addition, asparagine specifically stimulated the synthesis and suppressed the degradation of ODC protein.