Incorporation of radioactive phosphorus into the nucleic acids of surviving rat uteri: effects of steroid hormones in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract

MARKED alterations in uterine growth and physiology occur under the stimulation of estrogenic and androgenic steroids. On the assumption that desoxypentose and pentose nucleic acids (DNA and PNA) play an important part in these responses, an investigation was made in this laboratory into the effect of such steroids on the purine-pyrimidine composition of DNA and PNA extracted from uterine tissue. We have reported that compositional variations were apparently associated with the response of human and animal preparations to these steroids (Gold and Sturgis, 1954). The purpose of our present study was to determine the ability of steroid hormones to alter the rate of synthesis of uterine nucleic acids in vitro. The incorporation of P32 has been employed as an index of this synthesis. Changes in rate of incorporation associated with exposure to steroids either in vivo or in vitro may suggest one of the mechanisms whereby these hormones may bring about their profound effects on uterine growth and differentiation.