Amino acid incorporation by preparations from the developing rat brain.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Adams DH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1264992 | biostudies-other | 1966 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:1. After incorporation of [(14)C]valine in vitro, cerebral microsomes were separated into membrane-bound and free ribosomes by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation. 2. In preparations from both 4-day-old and adult rats, free and bound ribosomes incorporated [(14)C]valine. Free ribosomes could be found as polysomes, which were highly active. 3. Microsomes labelled with [(14)C]valine in vitro were fractionated after deoxycholate treatment into a preliminary sediment, sedimented at 105000g (5min.), and ribonucleoprotein particles, sedimented at 150000g (70min.), to determine the role of membrane-bound ribosomes. In the adult the ribonucleoprotein particles retained most of the radioactivity, whereas in the young the preliminary sediment was as highly labelled as the ribonucleoprotein particles. 4. The labelled preliminary sediment from young preparations was both ribonuclease- and deoxycholate-resistant, and the nature of this material is discussed in terms of a possible structural component of microsomal membranes.
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Project description:1. The incorporation of (14)C-labelled amino acids into polysomal protein was studied in a system consisting of polysomes and pH5 enzyme obtained 4 and 40hr. after a single intraperitoneal injection of 4-dimethylamino-3'-methylazobenzene. Labelling of the polysome fraction of preparations of both the 4hr.-treated and 40hr.-treated rats was considerably higher than in the normal control. 2. In further experiments on protein synthesis by polysomes from azo-dye-treated rats, the effect of replacing pH5 enzyme with cell sap was studied. Incorporation of (14)C-labelled amino acids into polysomal protein was similar to that of the control. 3. Aggregate size of polysomes obtained from rats injected previously with 4-dimethylamino-3'-methylazobenzene was studied by sucrose-gradient centrifugation. Polysomes prepared at 4hr. after azo-dye administration contained a considerable amount of large aggregates (approx. 700s), whereas at 40hr. after administration of the azo-dye the amount of large aggregates was less than in the control. 4. Determination of the ultraviolet spectra of polysome preparations from both normal and azo-dye-treated rats revealed no difference between the preparations. On the other hand, the ultraviolet spectra of cell-sap fractions from the different preparations showed that there is a definite shift in the absorption maximum from 272mmu (normal) to 267mmu, 40hr. after treatment, with an intermediate value of 270mmu for the preparation from 4hr.-treated rats. The absorption minimum changes from 250mmu (normal) to 245mmu for the preparation from 40hr.-treated rats.
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Project description:1. Washed guinea-pig cerebral-cortex mitochondria incorporate [(14)C]leucine into their protein at a rate comparable with the rates reported for liver or heart mitochondria only if the mitochondria are separated from myelin and nerve endings by density-gradient centrifugation. 2. The non-mitochondrial components (myelin and nerve endings) of brain mitochondrial preparations incorporated [(14)C]leucine at a negligible rate. 3. The mitochondria do not require an exogenous supply of energy or a full supply of amino acids to support the process. 4. The incorporation rate was linear up to 2hr. aerobic incubation at 30 degrees and was inhibited by chloramphenicol, only slightly by actinomycin D and not by penicillin or pretreatment with ribonuclease. The observed incorporation is considered to be unlikely to be due to contaminating cytoplasmic ribosomes or bacteria. 5. The process was also studied in mitochondrial preparations from rabbit cerebral cortex and spinal cord.
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