Nucleotide sequence homology between a virus-specific 6S RNA and various RNA species from adenovirus-2-infected KB cells.

Abstract

To investigate the metabolic fate of a 6S RNA (VA-RNA), which appears in human cell lines only after infection with adenovirus, various species of RNA from the cells at different stages of infection were tested for the presence of nucleotide sequence homologous to this RNA. RNA extracted from subvellular fractions of the cells was further fractionated by sucrose gradient centrifugation and analysed by acrylamide gel electrophoresis or by competition against 32P-labeled VA-RNA in hybridization with adenovirus DNA. The results pointed to the following conclusions. (1) VA-RNA is synthesized in the cells throughout the entire period after infections, starting before the onset of viral DNA synthesis. (2) VA-RNA does not participate in protein synthesis as a messenger RNA or a precursor of transfer RNA. (3) The nucleotide sequence homologous to VA-RNA exists as a part of certain species of nuclear high molecular weight RNA in the infected cells.