Dissociation Of Polyribosomes Research Articles

Unusual subcellular confinement of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) in circulating human platelets: Complete polyribosome dissociation

FMRP, a RNA-binding protein, was shown in association with polyribosomes in every cell types studied so far, suggesting a ubiquitous role as a translational regulator. Platelets are known for their limited protein synthesis potential. However, current investigations put forward that RNA metabolism is more developed than previously thought. Unexpectedly, our results provide evidence that FMRP, in platelets, is not constitutively associated with heavy particles, such as polyribosomes, and possesses a sedimentation coefficient of less than 10S contrasting with values of 150 to 500S as reported in other cell types. In summary, this report brings to light platelets as a simple human biological system to delineate novel FMRP functions as well as strengthening our comprehension of the pathophysiology of the fragile X syndrome which results from the absence of FMRP.

Progesterone effects on neuronal ultrastructure and expression of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) in rats with acute spinal cord injury.

(1) Following acute spinal cord injury, progesterone modulates several molecules essential for motoneuron function, although the morphological substrates for these effects are unknown. (2) The present study analyzed morphological changes in motoneurons distal to the lesion site from rats with or without progesterone treatment. We employed electron microscopy to study changes in nucleus and cytoplasm and immunohistochemistry for the microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) for changes in cytoskeleton. (3) After spinal cord injury, the nucleoplasm appeared more finely dispersed resulting in reduced electron opacity and the nucleus adopted an eccentric position. Changes of perikarya included dissolution of Nissl bodies and dissociation of polyribosomes (chromatolysis). After progesterone treatment for 3 days, the deafferented motoneurons now presented a clumped nucleoplasm, a better-preserved rough endoplasmic reticulum and absence of chromatolysis. Progesterone partially prevented development of nuclear eccentricity. Whereas 50% of injured motoneurons showed nuclear eccentricity, only 16% presented this phenotype after receiving progesterone. Additionally, injured rats showed reduced immunostaining for MAP2 in dendrites, pointing to cytoskeleton abnormalities, whereas progesterone treatment attenuated the injury-induced loss of MAP2. (4) Our data indicated that progesterone maintained in part neuronal ultrastructure, attenuated chromatolysis, and preclude the loss of MAP2, suggesting a protective effect during the early phases of spinal cord injury.

Salicylates Trigger Protein Synthesis Inhibition in a Protein Kinase R-like Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase-dependent Manner

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug aspirin and its metabolite, sodium salicylate, have profound effects on cellular protein synthesis and cell physiology. However, the underlying mechanism by which they cause these responses remains unclear. We show here that salicylates induce phosphorylation of the alpha-subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2alpha), resulting in the inhibition of mRNA translation in cells. Exposure of cells to acetyl salicylic acid resulted in strong activation of eIF2alpha stress-activated protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK). Analysis of fibroblasts with a targeted deletion of the perk gene revealed that PERK is indispensable for triggering the phosphorylation of eIF2alpha as well as the inhibition of protein synthesis induced by salicylates. Although salicylate treatment did not trigger activation of inositol-requiring enzyme 1, there was an increased expression of the pro-apoptotic transcription factor CHOP-(gadd153), a downstream event to eIF2alpha phosphorylation known to mediate endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated responses. Thus, salicylates selectively trigger an endoplasmic reticulum stress-responsive signaling pathway initiated through activation of PERK to induce their cellular effects.

The Fed-1 (CAUU)4 element is a 5' UTR dark-responsive mRNA instability element that functions independently of dark-induced polyribosome dissociation.

Darkness rapidly induces a decline in the stability and translation of the pea Ferredoxin-1 (Fed-1) mRNA in transgenic tobacco. Direct half-life measurement showed that mutation of the (CAUU)4 stabilizes Fed-1 mRNA in the dark. (CAUU)1, a feature more common in plant 5' UTRs than (CAUU)4, confers slight light-responsive mRNA accumulation. At least three but less than 11 CAUU repeats near the 5' end of the 5' UTR are required for full light-responsive accumulation. Furthermore, 26 nt of the 5' UTR, including the (CAUU)4 repeat, is sufficient to confer a significant approximately 2.5-fold increase in light-regulated mRNA accumulation when fused to the 5' end of a heterologous plant mRNA. A mutation of the (CAUU)4 repeat that compromises light-regulated mRNA stability changes in vitro the accessibility of the region to ribonuclease V1 and ribonuclease A suggesting the geometry formed by the repeat may be important for instability. Finally, dark-induced Fed-1 mRNA instability occurs even when most of the mRNA is retained on polyribosomes, and thus is likely an independent event regulated by darkness.

Light control of nuclear gene mRNA abundance and translation in tobacco.

Photosynthetic signals modulate expression of nuclear genes at the levels of mRNA transcription, mRNA stability, and translation. In transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), the pea (Pisum sativum) Ferredoxin 1 (Fed-1) mRNA dissociates from polyribosomes and becomes destabilized when photosynthesis is inhibited by photosynthetic electron transport inhibitor 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. We used polymerase chain reaction suppressive-subtractive hybridization to identify similarly regulated endogenous tobacco genes. This screen identified 14 nuclear-encoded tobacco mRNAs whose light-induced increase in abundance is suppressed in the presence of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. Sequence analysis of the cognate cDNAs revealed that nine of the mRNAs encode putative chloroplast-targeted proteins. We asked whether the abundance of these mRNAs was regulated transcriptionally or posttranscriptionally. Of the five mRNAs with sufficient abundance to detect using nuclear run-on assays, we observed transcriptional regulation of alpha-tubulin, thiazole biosynthetic enzyme, and pSKA10 (an unknown gene). Photosystem A subunit L and, to a lesser extent, alpha-tubulin and pSKA10 mRNAs, may also be stabilized in the light. In contrast, Rubisco small subunit mRNA abundance appears to be transcriptionally up-regulated but posttranscriptionally down-regulated in the light. To determine whether, like Fed-1 mRNA, the mRNAs identified in this screen were translationally responsive to light, we characterized the polyribosome association of these mRNAs in the light and after a 15-min dark treatment. A subset of the mRNAs showed dramatic dark-induced polyribosome dissociation, similar to Fed-1 mRNA, and all of the mRNAs showed at least slight polyribosome dissociation. Thus, both posttranscriptional and translational regulation appear to be important mechanisms regulating the expression of many nuclear-encoded mRNAs encoding proteins involved in photosynthesis.

Alpha interferon induces distinct translational control programs to suppress hepatitis C virus RNA replication.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is treated with interferon (IFN)-based therapy. The mechanisms by which IFN suppresses HCV replication are not known, and only limited efficacy is achieved with therapy because the virus directs mechanisms to resist the host IFN response. In the present study we characterized the effects of IFN action upon the replication of two distinct quasispecies of an HCV replicon whose encoded NS5A protein exhibited differential abilities to bind and inhibit protein kinase R (PKR). Metabolic labeling experiments revealed that IFN had little overall effect upon HCV protein stability or polyprotein processing but specifically blocked translation of the HCV RNA, such that the replication of both viral quasispecies was suppressed by IFN treatment of the Huh7 host cells. However, within cells expressing an NS5A variant that inhibited PKR, we observed a reduced level of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha subunit (eIF2alpha) phosphorylation and a concomitant increase in HCV protein synthetic rates, enhancement of viral RNA replication, and a partial rescue of viral internal ribosome entry site (IRES) function from IFN suppression. Assessment of the ribosome distribution of the HCV replicon RNA demonstrated that the NS5A-mediated block in eIF2alpha phosphorylation resulted in enhanced recruitment of the HCV RNA into polyribosome complexes in vivo but only partially rescued the RNA from polyribosome dissociation induced by IFN treatment. Examination of cellular proteins associated with HCV-translation complexes in IFN-treated cells identified the P56 protein as an eIF3-associated factor that fractionated with the initiator ribosome-HCV RNA complex. Importantly, we found that P56 could independently suppress HCV IRES function both in vitro and in vivo, but a mutant P56 that was unable to bind eIF3 had no suppressive action. We conclude that IFN blocks HCV replication through translational control programs involving PKR and P56 to, respectively, target eIF2- and eIF3-dependent steps in the viral RNA translation initiation process.

Transient Dissociation of Polyribosomes and Concurrent Recruitment of Calreticulin and Calmodulin Transcripts in Gravistimulated Maize Pulvini

The dynamics of polyribosome abundance were studied in gravistimulated maize (Zea mays) stem pulvini. During the initial 15 min of gravistimulation, the amount of large polyribosomes transiently decreased. The transient decrease in polyribosome levels was accompanied by a transient decrease in polyribosome-associated mRNA. After 30 min of gravistimulation, the levels of polyribosomes and the amount of polyribosome-associated mRNA gradually increased over 24 h up to 3- to 4-fold of the initial value. Within 15 min of gravistimulation, total levels of transcripts coding for calreticulin and calmodulin were elevated 5-fold in maize pulvinus total RNA. Transcripts coding for calreticulin and calmodulin were recruited into polyribosomes within 15 min of gravistimulation. Over 4 h of gravistimulation, a gradual increase in the association of calreticulin and calmodulin transcripts with polyribosomes was seen predominantly in the lower one-half of the maize pulvinus; the association of transcripts for vacuolar invertase with polyribosomes did not change over this period. Our results suggest that within 15 min of gravistimulation, the translation of the majority of transcripts associated with polyribosomes decreased, resembling a general stress response. Recruitment of calreticulin and calmodulin transcripts into polyribosomes occurred predominantly in the lower pulvinus one-half during the first 4 h when the presentation time for gravistimulation in the maize pulvinus is not yet complete.

Translating ribosomes inhibit poliovirus negative-strand RNA synthesis.

Poliovirus has a single-stranded RNA genome of positive polarity that serves two essential functions at the start of the viral replication cycle in infected cells. First, it is translated to synthesize viral proteins and, second, it is copied by the viral polymerase to synthesize negative-strand RNA. We investigated these two reactions by using HeLa S10 in vitro translation-RNA replication reactions. Preinitiation RNA replication complexes were isolated from these reactions and then used to measure the sequential synthesis of negative- and positive-strand RNAs in the presence of different protein synthesis inhibitors. Puromycin was found to stimulate RNA replication overall. In contrast, RNA replication was inhibited by diphtheria toxin, cycloheximide, anisomycin, and ricin A chain. Dose-response experiments showed that precisely the same concentration of a specific drug was required to inhibit protein synthesis and to either stimulate or inhibit RNA replication. This suggested that the ability of these drugs to affect RNA replication was linked to their ability to alter the normal clearance of translating ribosomes from the input viral RNA. Consistent with this idea was the finding that the protein synthesis inhibitors had no measurable effect on positive-strand synthesis in normal RNA replication complexes. In marked contrast, negative-strand synthesis was stimulated by puromycin and was inhibited by cycloheximide. Puromycin causes polypeptide chain termination and induces the dissociation of polyribosomes from mRNA. Cycloheximide and other inhibitors of polypeptide chain elongation "freeze" ribosomes on mRNA and prevent the normal clearance of ribosomes from viral RNA templates. Therefore, it appears that the poliovirus polymerase was not able to dislodge translating ribosomes from viral RNA templates and mediate the switch from translation to negative-strand synthesis. Instead, the initiation of negative-strand synthesis appears to be coordinately regulated with the natural clearance of translating ribosomes to avoid the dilemma of ribosome-polymerase collisions.

Peculiarities of functioning of protein-synthesizing apparatus of the hibernator ( Citellus undulatus)

Synthesis of proteins and RNA has been studied by means of labeled precursors of 14C-labeled amino acids and [ 14C]orotic acid in liver cells of hibernating, arousing, and active ground squirrels ( Citellus undulatus). The investigations indicate that cycloheximide (CHI)-inhibited protein synthesis in liver cells of hibernating ground squirrels may occur on preexisting polyribosomes. A low level of protein synthesis in this state results not only from the Arrhenius dependence, but also from the dissociation of polyribosomes into monosomes. During arousal there is an intensive assembly of polyribosomes. This occurs even with the inhibition of RNA synthesis by actinomycin D, testifying to the presence of a pool of iRNA in liver cells, which is necessary to activate translation. The intensity of protein synthesis in arousal is also influenced by the activation of transcription.

Staining with pyronin Y detects changes in conformation of RNA during mitosis and hyperthermia of CHO cells

Cellular RNA in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells synchronized in mitosis (M) or G 2 phase, as well as in interphase cells subjected to hyperthermia (42 °C, 10 min), was stained with acridine orange (AO), ethidium bromide (EB), or pyronin Y (PY) and the resultant fluorescence was measured by flow cytometry. Total RNA content detected after staining with AO increased in M as compared to G 2-phase cells, consistent with continued RNA synthesis during G 2 phase. The content of double-stranded RNA, stained with EB (after DNase treatment), was also somewhat higher in M cells. In contrast, the stainability of RNA with PY decreased by 27% in M- compared to G 2-phase cells. Furthermore, a decrease in stainability of RNA with PY was observed in G 2 cells compared to cells in G 1 phase. In separate experiments, RNA stainability with AO or EB was generally unaffected when interphase CHO cells were exposed to 42 °C for 10 min, though this same treatment resulted in a 26% decrease in RNA stainability with PY. The decreased PY stainability of cellular RNA in M or heat-treated cells was observed at a relatively narrow range of dye concentration (1.0–2.0 μg/ml). The observed hypochromicity of RNA coincides with dissociation of polyribosomes into single ribosomes known to occur during mitosis and following exposure to hyperthermia. It is presumed that the phenomenon involves selective denaturation and condensation of ribosomal (r) RNA by PY in single ribosomes which does not occur in polyribosomes. While the molecular mechanisms responsible for stabilization of rRNA in polyribosomes preventing its denaturation and condensation by PY are unknown, PY appears to be a sensitive probe that can be used to detect and study these changes in rRNA confirmation in situ.

Sequential development of reversible and irreversible neuronal damage following cerebral ischemia.

The ultrastructure of reversibly injured cortical neurons and irreversibly injured striatal neurons was studied at 3, 15, 30, and 120 minutes (min) and 24 hours (h) following severe cerebral ischemia produced in rats by permanent occlusion of the vertebral arteries and 30 min occlusion of the carotid arteries. Animals meeting the established criterion of unresponsiveness had widespread neuronal death in the dorsolateral striatum, but no permanent damage in the paramedian cortex. Reversible mitochondrial swelling at three min was followed by dissociation of polyribosomes, decrease in rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) profiles, and transformation of Golgi apparatus into large clusters of small vesicles without cisterns in both cortical and striatal neurons. Reaccumulation of RER was seen in cortical neurons by 30-120 min and all cortical neurons appeared normal at 24 h. In contrast, most striatal neurons developed dilatation of the Golgi vesicles by 120 min after reperfusion, followed by progressive cell shrinkage and ischemic cell change. Approximately 10-15% of striatal neurons contained cytoplasmic membranous whorls, some continuous with the plasma membrane. The results suggest that structural abnormalities in the Golgi apparatus and in plasma membranes may participate in functional changes critical to irreversible neuronal injury following cerebral ischemia.

Inhibition by vesicular stomatitis virus of herpes simplex virus-directed protein synthesis

Infection of mammalian cells with either herpes simplex virus (HSV) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) results in a marked inhibition of host protein synthesis. These viruses employ different mechanisms to turn off the host. In previous studies we showed that following infection with HSV, cellular mRNA was degraded and host polyribosomes were dissociated ( Nishioka and Silverstein, Proc. Nat. Acad Sci. USA 74,2370–2374,1977 ; Nishioka and Silverstein, J. Virol. 25, 422–426, 1978a ). Degradation required synthesis of an HSV-specified polypeptide whereas dissociation appeared to be mediated by a heatlabile virion associated function ( Nishioka and Silverstein, J. Virol. 27, 619–627, 1978b ). In contrast, when cells are infected with VSV, host mRNAs are not degraded and polyribosome profiles are not drastically altered ( Nishioka and Silverstein, 1978a). We have exploited the properties of these two viruses by infecting cells either simultaneously or sequentially in an effort to test our previous hypotheses. Analyses of the distribution of polyribosomes, stability of mRNA, synthesis of mRNA, and patterns of protein synthesis in coinfected cells permit us to conclude that dissociation of polyribosomes in cells infected with HSV results from expression of a virion associated function, degradation of cellular mRNA requires expression of the HSV genome, and VSV is dominant in doubly infected cells because it inhibits de novo transcription of the HSV genome.

Polyribosomes in isolated liver cells. Preparative procedures, effects of incubation and correlation with protein synthesis.

Methods have been derived which permit the isolation of undergraded polyribosomes from isolated rat liver cells. Under the conditions used the polyribosome profile of hepatocytes immediately after isolation was essentially identical with that from intact liver. However, during incubation of cells in complex physiological media there was a progressive dissociation of polyribosomes. The addition of a variety of factors that produce reaggregation of polyribosomes in rat liver in vivo did not prevent dissociation during cell incubations. Although large polyribosomes were lost most rapidly, the albumin-synthesizing capacity of isolated cells was not selectively lost when compared with total protein synthesis. The significance of these results for the use of isolated hepatocytes in the study of liver protein synthesis is discussed.

Requirement of protein synthesis for the degradation of host mRNA in Friend erythroleukemia cells infected wtih herpes simplex virus type 1

We describe experiments which demonstrate that shortly after infection of Friend erythroleukemia cells with herpes simplex virus (HSV), polyribosomes dissociate and cellular mRNA degrades. Analysis of infected cell extracts on sucrose density gradients demonstrates that the majority of the polyribosomes have dissociated to monoribosomes at 2 h postinfection. Physical measurements of infected-cell RNAs support this conclusion and demonstrate that the polyadenylated RNAs decrease in size. The degradation of mRNA is apparently a stochastic process as judged by the failure to detect a shift in the Crt1/2 when polyadenylated RNA extracted from infected cells at different times is hybridized to globin complementary DNA. In experiments designed to determine whether dissociation of polyribosomes is sufficient to cause degradation of globin mRNA, the amount of globin mRNA in uninfected cells did not change when cells were treated with NaF or pactamycin at concentrations sufficient to dissociate all polyribosomes. In cells infected with UV-irradiated virus polyribosomes dissociate but globin mRNA does not degrade, suggesting that it is possible to separate dissociation from degradation.

A simple procedure for the isolation and purification of protamine messenger ribonucleic acid from trout testis.

Preparation of milligram quantities of purified poly(A)+ (polyadenylated) protamine mRNA from trout testis tissue was accomplished by a simple procedure using gentle conditions. This involves chromatography of the total nucleic acids isolated by dissociation of polyribosomes with 25 mM-EDTA to release messenger ribonucleoprotein particles and deproteinization of the total postmitochondrial supernatant with 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulphate in 0.25 M-NaCl by binding it to a DEAE-cellulose column. Total RNA was bound under these conditions, and low-molecular-weight RNA, lacking 18S and 28S RNA, could be eluted with 0.5 M-NaCl and chromatographed on oligo(dT)-cellulose columns to select for poly(A)+ RNA. Further purification of both the unbound poly(A)- RNA and the bound poly(A)+ mRNA on sucrose density gradients showed that both 18S and 28S rRNA were absent, being removed during the DEAE-cellulose chromatography step. Poly(A)- RNA sedimented in the 4S region whereas the bound poly(A)+ RNA fraction showed a main peak at 6S [poly(A+) protamine mRNA] and a shoulder in the 3-4S region. Analysis of the main peak and the shoulder on a second gradient showed that most of the main peak sedimented at 6S, whereas the shoulder sedimented slower than 4S. The identity of the poly(A)+ protamine mRNA was established by the following criteria: (1) purified protamine mRNA migrated as a set of four bands on urea/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis; (2) analysis of the polypeptides synthesized in the wheat-germ extract by starch-gel electrophoresis showed a single band of radioactivity which co-migrated exactly with the carrier trout testis protamine standard; and (3) chromatography of the polypeptide products on CM-cellulose (CM-52) showed the presence of three or four radioactively labelled protamine components that were co-eluted with the unlabelled trout testis protamine components added as carrier. The availability of large quantities of purified protamine mRNA should now permit a more thorough analysis of its physical and chemical properties.

Composition and biosynthetic activity of polyribosomes associated with alfalfa mosaic virus infections

To investigate the mechanism of expression of genetic information in the tripartite RNA genome of alfalfa mosaic virus, the composition of polyribosomes extracted from infected tobacco plants was analyzed. By gel electrophoresis and annealing to virus-pecific double-stranded RNA it was established that 3 to 4 days after infection [ 3H]uridine-label associated with polyribosomes is almost exclusively incorporated in virus-specific RNA. Six species of polysome-associated RNA were identified: the three genome fragments, B-RNA, M-RNA, and Tb-RNA, and three subgenomic RNA, Xa-NA, Xb-RNA, and Ta-RNA. By chromatography on oligo(dT)-cellulose columns it was shown that neither the virion RNA nor the polysome-associated RNA contain a 3′-poly(A) segment. The hypothesis is put forward that the three genome fragments each contain two cistrons, one of which is translated directly from the genomic RNA, whereas the second cistron is expressed through a subgenomic messenger RNA. Upon dissociation of polyribosomes with EDTA the polysome-associated RNA are found in a ribonucleoprotein structure. When the polyribosomes are isolated with a high-salt buffer (containing 0.4 M KCI), this presumptive messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) sediments in the 10 to 50 S region of a sucrose gradient and has a buoyant density of about 1.60 g/cm 3. When the polyribosomes are isolated with a low-salt buffer (containing 0.06 M KCI), the mRNP sediments in the 40 to 70 S region of a sucrose gradient and has a buoyant density of 1.45 g/cm 3. This demonstrates that under high-salt conditions a considerable amount of protein is dissociated from the mRNP-structure or is prevented from association with it. Moreover, a negligible amount of [ 3H]leucine is incorporated in mRNP from polyribosomes prepared with high-salt buffer, whereas the mRNP from polyribosomes isolated with low-salt buffer is extensively labeled. The majority of this label appears to be incorporated in viral coat protein. The dissociation of coat protein from polyribosomes in high-salt buffer is not surprising, since virions also fall apart at this ionic strength. Upon addition of a postribosomal supernatant from wheat germ and other requirements for protein synthesis, polyribosomes prepared with high-salt or low-salt buffer are equally efficient in completing nascent peptide chains. In both cases the only detectable virus-specific polypeptide labeled in vitro is viral coat protein. The mechanism controlling in vitro and in vivo translation and the possible role of the coat protein in these processes are discussed.

Androgen action in the rat ventral prostate: Effect of castration and testosterone treatment on polyribosomes

Two ribosomal fractions were prepared from rat ventral prostate and examined by electron microscopy. One fraction sedimenting at 10,000 g contained ribosomes associated with heavy membrane fragments (heavy fraction), and another sedimenting with the 105,000 g pellet contained ribosomes in free clusters or associated with light membrane fragments (light fraction). Centrifugation of both fractions on sucrose gradients revealed the presence of various absorbance peaks of polyribosomes which could be dissociated into monoribosomes by treatment with ribonuclease, and into ribosomal subunits by exposure to EDTA. Castration caused the dissociation of polyribosomes of both fractions into monoribosomes within 12–24 h and into ribosomal subunits within 48–72 h. In the heavy fraction, dissociation of polyribosomes was detected as early as 12 h after castration, while in the light fraction these changes were not noted until 24 h after castration. Polyribosomal peaks of both fractions disappeared completely between 48–72 h. Testosterone treatment of the castrate restored polyribosomal peaks at a rate similar to the rate of dissociation after castration. The rate of restoration in the light fraction appeared to be faster than in the heavy fraction. In doses of 1 mg/day, 17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one was as effective as testosterone, and 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol was somewhat less effective. Cortisol had a very slight effect, while progesterone and estradiol-17β had no effect on polyribosome reassembly. To determine which components of polyribosomes were most affected by castration, the incorporation of tritiated cytidine into polyribosomes was studied in castrates and testosterone treated castrates. Within periods of 12, 18, or 48 h, testosterone treatment of the castrate caused an increase in cytidine incorporation into all components of polyribosomes.

The 7S RNA common to oncornaviruses and normal cells is associated with polyribosomes.

The 7S RNA species first demonstrated in avian and murine oncornaviruses and later in normal, uninfected cells is found associated in part with cellular polyribosomes. A molar ratio of 7S RNA to 5S ribosomal RNA of 0.05 indicates that there is approximately one mole of 7S RNA per mole of messenger RNA. Dissociation of polyribosomes with dimethylsulfoxide results in a marked decrease in the sedimentation rate of the 7S RNA. The dimethylsulfoxide-induced dissociation of polyribosomes and the concomitant movement of the 7S RNA from the polyribosome region into lighter regions of a sucrose gradient are both inhibited by cycloheximide, indicating that the 7S RNA is indeed associated with polyribosomes and not with a ribonucleoprotein particle sedimenting with polyribosomes.

Cytoplasmic RNA in immunoglobulin-secreting myeloma tumor cells: II. Heterogeneous RNA associated with polyribosomes following fractionation by sucrose gradient centrifugation

Polyribosomes isolated from cytoplasmic fractions of cultured mouse myeloma cells (Strain MOPC 21) were found to be contaminated with material containing RNA highly labeled during pulse experiments. Most of this RNA is larger than 18-S RNA and the largest molecules turn over with a half life of about 1 h. Dissociation of polyribosomes with EDTA or puromycin releases mRNA which is apparently uncontaminated with other heterogeneous RNA.

Disaggregation of Polyribosomes in Intact Gerbils Following Ischemia. An Ultrastructural Study

Adult gerbils were subjected to either unilateral or bilateral common carotid artery ligation for varying periods of time with varying durations of recovery. Selected brain regions were prepared for ultrastructural study after perfusion fixation. Dissociation of polyribosomes was observed in neurons but not in glial cells of the cerebral cortex and thalamus after 30 minutes of unilateral occlusion with no recovery period. At the other extreme, disaggregation was present in all brain regions studied after 60 minutes of bilateral occlusion followed by a 60-minute recovery period. Still longer recovery periods result in the appearance of some neurons with normally aggregated polyribosomes. The results suggest that a relatively long period of ischemia induces a derangement of neuronal protein synthesis that may persist for some time after restoration of circulation.