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Biomedical subjects

E M Martin

Publications and source records attributed to E M Martin.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Virus protein synthesis in animal cell-free systems: nature of the products synthesized in resonse to ribonucleic acid of encephalomyocarditis virus.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) from encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus stimulates the incorporation of amino acids into protein in cell-free protein-synthetic systems derived from Krebs mouse ascites tumor cells and chick embryo fibroblasts; the mouse system is the more responsive to the viral RNA. The greater part of this difference in activity can be ascribed to the cell sap, but the origin of the ribosomes also has a marked effect. The nature of the polypeptides formed in these cell-free systems was investigated by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels and by fingerprint analysis of tryptic digests. The same product in part appears to be synthesized in response to the EMC RNA in both systems. It was not detected if the EMC RNA was partly degraded (</=4S) or replaced by other species of RNA, including that from influenza virus. The results suggest that EMC RNA is partially translated in these systems to yield virus-specific polypeptides.

Amino Acids↗

Synthesis of capsid and noncapsid viral proteins in response to encephalomyocarditis virus ribonucleic acid in animal cell-free systems.

The polypeptide products formed in two cell-free protein-synthetic systems programmed with encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus ribonucleic acid (RNA) have been compared with the virus-specific proteins found in EMC-infected cells and with the capsid proteins of the purified virion. Tryptic peptides of (35)S-methioninelabeled proteins from these three sources were compared by co-chromatography and electrophoresis and by isoelectric focussing. Fifty-two methionine-containing peptides were resolved in digests of material from infected cells, of which about one-third were also clearly present in digests of the virion capsid proteins. The product formed in response to EMC RNA in cell-free systems from Krebs mouse ascites tumor cells yielded 26 to 29 such peptides. Most of these peptides were shown to behave identically with virus-specific peptides from infected cells, whereas just under half of them appeared to be identical with peptides from the virion capsid proteins. The product formed in response to EMC RNA in the L-cell cell-free system was similar, whereas six additional EMC-specific peptides were detected in mixed Krebs L-cell systems. The results indicate that the EMC RNA genome is partially translated in the mouse cell-free systems used to yield products containing both virion capsid and virus-specific noncapsid polypeptides.

Animals↗

Proein-synthetic activity of ribosomes from interferon-treated cells.

Cell-free protein-synthetic systems from normal and interferon-treated chick cells were compared. No difference was found in the amino acid incorporation activities of such ribosome-cell sap systems or in their response to polyuridylic acid. Throughout a variety of experiments we failed to detect the formation of a discrete peak of virus-specific polysomes, when ribosome monomers and subunits (from interferon-treated or control cells) were incubated with labeled Sindbis or Semliki Forest virus ribonucleic acid (RNA). Some binding of viral RNA did occur, but the complexes formed were evident in sucrose gradients as a broad, rapidly sedimenting shoulder on the ribosome monomer peak. Interferon pretreatment of cells did not affect the formation of these complexes in vitro, nor did it alter their rate of breakdown on incubation under amino acid incorporation conditions. Experiments with inhibitors of protein synthesis showed that such "breakdown" was not dependent upon amino acid incorporation and was not an index of translation. In these respects, our results are in marked contrast to those of Marcus and Salb. These results, together with our failure to detect any significant change in the protein composition of ribosomes from interferon-treated cells, suggest that such treatment does not result in a modification of the ribosome per se. They do not, however, rule out the involvement of a factor(s) required for ribosomes and viral RNA to function in viral protein synthesis. Indeed, it remains likely that interferon acts through such a mechanism, although the precise level at which the inhibition occurs remains to be elucidated.

Amino Acids↗