EFFECT OF CERTAIN POLYCYCLIC HYDROCARBONS ON THE INCORPORATION OF AMINO-ACIDS INTO SOLUBLE RIBONUCLEIC ACIDS.
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1. Cycloheximide causes the release of the control amino acids have over RNA synthesis in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis N.C.T.C. 74. 2. The antibiotic causes a gradual deceleration of RNA formation. After incubation for 60min. at 30 degrees RNA synthesis usually proceeds at a rate only a few per cent of that of the untreated control. 3. In the presence of cycloheximide two types of RNA accumulate in the cell: soluble RNA and a high-molecular-weight RNA. The latter has a base composition intermediate between those of yeast DNA and yeast ribosomal RNA, and sediments in a sucrose gradient at a rate faster than that of the 23s ribosomal RNA component. 4. Yeast ribosomal RNA contains methylated bases. Judged from the incorporation of [Me-(14)C]methionine, the extent of methylation of ribosomal RNA is about 20% of that of the ;soluble' RNA fraction. The high-molecular-weight RNA formed in the presence of cycloheximide is less methylated than normal RNA. In this case the sucrose-density-gradient sedimentation patterns of newly methylated and newly synthesized RNA do not coincide. 5. In the presence of cycloheximide, polysomal material accumulates, indicating that messenger RNA is formed. 6. The effect of the antibiotic on protein and RNA synthesis can be abolished by washing of the cells. The RNA that has accumulated during incubation of the cells with the antibiotic is not stable on removal of cycloheximide. 7. The results presented in this study are discussed in relation to the regulation of RNA formation in yeast.
1. Nucleic acids were released from Escherichia coli by lysing with tri-iso-propylnaphthalene sulphonate and 4-aminosalicylate and then extracting with a phenol-cresol mixture. 2. Nucleic acids were similarly released from Bacillus subtilis after initial treatment with lysozyme. 3. DNA was sedimented after careful precipitation with m-cresol or 2-butoxyethanol (0.1-0.12vol.) in the presence of 20% sodium benzoate. 4. Contaminating ribosomal RNA was removed by precipitation in the presence of 4m-sodium chloride or by extracting DNA with an acetate-butyrate mixture, in which RNA is insoluble. 5. The DNA from B. subtilis has a transforming ability of 0.3-0.6% for the tryptophan marker. 6. Ribosomal RNA was then precipitated with rapidly labelled RNA by the addition of an equal volume of 2-butoxyethanol. 7. There was good separation of the nucleic acids from protein and polysaccharides.
1. Rat liver pH5 enzymes and cell sap extracted with various organic solvents showed a variable decreased incorporation of labelled amino acids into s-RNA (;soluble' or transfer RNA) in vitro. 2. The original enzymic activity could be fully restored, though at different rates, by the addition of lipid extracts in quantities corresponding to those originally present. 3. Of the main lipid groups separated from the extract, only free cholesterol and cholesteryl esters were able to reactivate the extracted pH5 enzymes in the same way as the whole lipid extract. 4. Addition of pure cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate also fully restored the enzymic activity. 5. There was no energy-dependent incorporation of labelled amino acids into ribosomal protein in the presence of extracted cell sap. Addition of cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate fully restored the activity of the cell sap to incorporate labelled leucine and lysine into ribosomal protein and enhanced the incorporation of labelled protein hydrolysate and phenylalanine over the level found with the corresponding non-extracted preparations. 6. It is concluded that lipids play an important role in the synthesis of aminoacyl-s-RNA complexes and that cholesteryl 14-methylhexadecanoate may be the active lipid in this respect.
Growth hormone stimulates the synthesis of RNA in hypophysectomized rat liver. The question whether the hormonal stimulation of RNA synthesis is due to the activation of repressed cistrons or to other factors was studied. Nuclear RNA from the livers of adult female hypophysectomized and growth-hormone-treated rats was examined for molecular homology by hybridization techniques: no new species of RNA were detected after hormone treatment. The template activity of the chromatin for RNA synthesis is also not increased by the action of growth hormone. Short- and long-pulse-labelling experiments demonstrate that the hormonal stimulation of RNA synthesis is most marked in experiments where the period of incorporation of radioactive precursors is limited to 1-2hr. It is concluded that the hormone influences essentially the rate of RNA synthesis in these tissues.
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RNA (cRNA) was synthesized in vitro on a template of rat liver DNA and its hybridization with rat liver DNA was studied by using the nitrocellulose-filter method. Sonication of the DNA diminished its apparent capacity to hybridize with RNA by about 50%. This is not due to cross-linkage of DNA molecules, because it could be shown that less than 2% of the sonicated DNA was cross-linked. The effect is due instead to the small size of the sonicated DNA molecules. Below a single-stranded molecular weight of 5x10(5) the DNA showed a progressive loss of capacity to hybridize with decrease in molecular weight. Evidence is presented suggesting that the apparently diminished capacity of the DNA to hybridize is due to loss of hybridized DNA from the membrane filters. When cRNA at concentrations of up to 25mug/ml is annealed with sonicated total DNA, an apparent hybridization saturation value is found at which about 2.5% of the DNA is hybridized with RNA. Increasing the cRNA concentration tenfold brought about the hybridization of a second component of the DNA approximately equal in amount to the first. The renaturation of rat liver DNA was studied by measuring the fall in the extinction at 260nm and two different components of renaturation were observed within the reiterated fraction of DNA. By hybridizing cRNA with different fractions of rat DNA the two components of the hybridization curve are shown to correspond to the two components of the renaturation curve. The conclusion is drawn that at a cRNA concentration of 250mug/ml most of the reiterated fraction of rat liver DNA is hybridized after annealing for 16h under standard conditions (0.30m-sodium chloride-30mm-sodium citrate at 65 degrees C). Even with such a high cRNA concentration little or no hybridization of the slowly renaturing DNA fraction occurs. It is suggested that the most highly reiterated DNA component is poorly transcribed in vitro.
Noradrenaline added to perfused rabbit heart previously perfused with labelled precursors causes, after 2.5 and 5.0 min, a general increase of specific radioactivity or RNA in subcellular fractions, but no augmentation of acetylation of F2a2 and F2a1 histone fractions and no stimulation of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities. Synthesis of spermidine and spermine is enhanced at 10.0 min of treatment, when there is also a fall in specific radioactivity of RNA. The cytoplasmic Mn2+-stimulated polyadenylate polymerase activity is strongly enhanced 30s to 2.5 min after injection of noradrenaline or of dibutyryl cyclic AMP. Both the cyclic nucleotide and noradrenaline have no influence in vitro on the polyadenylate polymerase reaction.
Cardiac hypertrophy accompanies the progressive rise in blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. The role of endogenous RNA polymerases in this process was examined in nuclei from isolated cardiac myocytes of 20-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto controls. Both template-engaged (involved in transcription) and free (loosely attached to endogenous template, transcribing only with exogenous templates) RNA polymerases were increased in spontaneously hypertensive rats. In addition, the ratio of RNA polymerases I/II was lower in the spontaneously hypertensive rats for both functional pools of the enzyme. Endogenous transcribing RNA polymerases were quantified by t.l.c. of RNA-hydrolysis products. Increased numbers of enzyme molecules were present in nuclei from spontaneously hypertensive rats, without appreciable change in the rate of polyribonucleotide-chain elongation. These results could not be explained by differences in the activities of contaminating phosphatases or ribonucleases, nor by changes in endogenous nucleoside pools or recoveries of labelled nucleosides. Enhanced myocardial RNA synthesis in the spontaneously hypertensive rats at the stage of established cardiac hypertrophy is associated with increased numbers of RNA polymerase molecules. This increase may, in turn, reflect altered chromatin structure, resulting in increased polymerase binding and/or chain initiation.
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In order to examine the mechanism of the effect of dietary amino acids on hepatic polysome aggregation and protein synthesis, tRNA charging levels (tRNA acylated with amino acids) were measured in the livers of rats meal-fed (trained to eat for 2 hours/day) a 15% casein diet at the high and low point of polysome aggregation, and of meal-fed and control-fed (ad libitum feeding from 1800 to 0800 hours) rats fed an isoleucine deficient diet. The charging levels of tRNAs for two of the amino acids tested, namely isoleucine and phenylalanine, did not drop with the diurnal changes that occur in polysome aggregation, whereas, the feeding of an isoleucine deficient diet resulted in a 25% decrease in the ile-tRNA charging levels. Although it is not clear how amino acid supply regulates polysome aggregation and protein synthesis, it would not appear to be mediated via a decrease in tRNA charging levels.
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Investigations of the structure of polyadenylic acid [poly(A)] in yeast have shown that there are two classes of poly(A) distinguished by size and kinetics of synthesis. Each class is found directly on the 3' end of messenger RNA. One class contains poly(A) molecules ranging from 60 to less than 20 nucleotides long. The longest molecules in this poly(A) class are the first to become labeled when cells are exposed to [3H]adenine. Label then appears in progressively smaller molecules. The second class of poly(A) is about 20 nucleotides long. The length homogeneity of this class and the presence in nuclear DNA of many copies of a polythymidylate sequence which is the same length suggests that this poly(A) is synthesized by transcription from DNA.
The mouse liver revealed no increased incorporation of [14C]-orotic acid into either the total acid-soluble fraction, the uridine triphosphate or the RNA at 6 and 24 h after partial hepatectomy. In regenerating mouse and rat liver, the concentration of adenosine triphosphate was decreased 15-20% at 6 h, but was in the same range as that of the controls at 24 h. The adenosine monophosphate concentration of mouse liver increased 4-fold and 2-fold at these times after partial hepatectomy, respectively. The results indicate no direct relationship between the energy metabolism and the uptake and incorporation of orotic acid into RNA of regenerating liver. The activity of mouse plasma lactate dehydrogenase 5 (LDH 5) was increased 12-fold at 6 h and 5-fold at 24 h after partial hepatectomy. In rat, the LDH 5 activity was increased 2-fold at 6 h but was not different from that of the controls at 24 h. An increased leakage of LDH 5, possibly related to the decreased energy content of the liver, was thus revealed by the partially hepatectomized mice.
Recently, we have reported that retinoic acid (RA), similarly to retinol acetate, is able to reinitiate spermatogenesis in vitamin A-deficient rats. Here, we investigated the expression of RA receptors RAR alpha, RAR beta, RAR gamma, and retinoid X receptor RXR alpha by Northern blot analysis of poly(A)+ RNA of testes of vitamin A-deficient rats before and after reinitiation of spermatogenesis induced by injection of retinol acetate or RA and testes of 21-day-old and 10-week-old normal rats. In the testis of vitamin A-deficient rats 1.9-, 2.8-, and 3.8-kilobase (kb) transcripts of RAR alpha; 2.8- and 3.3-kb transcripts of RAR beta; 1.8-, 2.8-, and 3.4-kb transcripts of RAR gamma; and two transcripts of RXR alpha of 2.5 and 4.8 kb are expressed. When vitamin A-deficient rats receive RA or retinol acetate, a 3-fold increase in the amount of poly(A)+ RNA per testis can be observed after 8 h, while the amounts of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and sulfated glycoprotein-1 mRNA hardly change. Also, the expression of several transcripts of each RAR type is significantly increased from 1.8- up to 3.6-fold. Moreover, additional transcripts of RAR beta and RXR alpha (1.8 and 1.0 kb, respectively) can be detected. In the testes of 21-day-old rats, three transcripts of each RAR type and two RXR alpha transcripts are expressed. In contrast, in the normal adult rat testis the expression of all RARs, if present, is lower than that in the 21-day-old rat testis or the adult vitamin A-deficient rat testis. The expression of all transcripts of each RAR in the testis of 21-day-old rats shows great similarity with the expression in the testis of the vitamin A-deficient rat after replacement of retinol acetate or RA. These changes in expression indicate that RARs and RXR alpha may play a role in the process of proliferation and differentiation of A spermatogonia, which is induced in vitamin A-deficient rats shortly after replacement of RA or retinol acetate.
Ovarian steroids modulate learning, memory, and epileptic seizure activity, functions that are mediated in part by the hippocampus. Normal function depends on precise interactions between the inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic and excitatory glutamatergic neurons of the hippocampus. To determine whether estradiol and progesterone interact with GABAergic neurons, the levels of mRNA for glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the rate-limiting enzyme for GABA synthesis, were measured by in situ hybridization histochemistry with 35S-labeled riboprobes complimentary to the feline GAD cDNA. The levels of mRNA for GAD were analyzed in selected region of the dorsal hippocampus and medial basal hypothalamus in ovariectomized, ovariectomized estradiol-treated, and ovariectomized estradiol- and progesterone-treated rats. In estradiol-treated rats, GAD mRNA levels increased in GABAergic neurons associated with the CA1 pyramidal cell layer, but not in the stratum oriens of CA1 or any other region of the hippocampus. Estradiol plus progesterone treatment reversed the estradiol-induced increase in GAD mRNA in CA1 and induced a small decrease in the hilus. No effect of estradiol or progesterone was observed in the dorsomedial, ventromedial, or arcuate nuclei of the hypothalamus. Estradiol or progesterone may alter cognitive performance and seizure activity by increasing or decreasing, respectively, the activity of GABAergic neurons in the hippocampus.
This research was designed to determine 1) whether changes occur in the levels of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor (NMDA-R) messenger RNA (mRNA) in the reproductive hypothalamus of female rats as they approach puberty, 2) whether NMDA-R stimulation would promote differential LH responses during the specific stages of peripubertal development, and 3) whether ethanol (ETOH), which is known to affect the NMDA-R in other brain systems, can alter NMDA-R-activated LH secretion at puberty. In the first experiment, female rats were killed at 15, 20, 25, and 34-36 days of age to determine the levels of mRNA that code for the NMDA-R, specifically NMDA-R1, in the arcuate nucleus-median eminence (AN-ME) and preoptic area (POA) during pre- and peripubertal development by a ribonuclease protection assay. Results indicate that in juvenile animals, NMDA-R mRNA levels in the AN-ME increased at 25 days (P < 0.01). In the POA, the levels increased at 20 days (P < 0.05), but were unchanged at 25 days. During the peripubertal period, NMDA-R gene expression in the AN-ME did not change; however, gene expression in the POA increased (P < 0.05) during first proestrus, then declined during first estrus. In the second experiment, NMDA-R stimulation with N-methyl-D,L-aspartic acid (NMA; 2.5 mg/kg) produced differential stimulatory effects on LH release depending upon the stage of pubertal development. In this regard, significant post-NMA percent increases in LH released over pre-NMA (basal) levels occurred during anestrus (46%; P < 0.01) and first proestrus (95%; P < 0.01), with nonsignificant increases of 18% and 28% during first estrus and diestrus, respectively. Finally, a 3 g/kg dose of ETOH given intragastrically 90 min before the NMA challenge blocked (P < 0.05) NMA-induced LH release during first proestrus. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate regional differences in the timing of NMDA-R gene expression in the reproductive hypothalamus during pubertal development, show differential responses of LH to NMDA-R activation during the peripubertal period, and continue to demonstrate the vulnerability of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to the detrimental effects of ETOH at this critical time of development.