An autoradiographic study of the RNA and protein metabolism of normal plasma cells and phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes

Abstract

Rates of RNA and protein synthesis were studied autoradiographically in normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes, incubated in culture with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and in the normal human bone marrow plasma cell series. In the latter, maturation was associated with a progressive decrease in RNA synthesis, while the reverse occurred with protein synthesis. With regard to PHA stimulated lymphocytes, their transformation was linked with a striking and parallel increase in both the rates of RNA and protein synthesis. On the basis of these observations, the authors postulate the existence in the cell types examined of two different regulatory mechanisms for protein synthesis.