Abstract
IT is not yet clear what mechanisms turn on protein synthesis in the first stages of embryonic development. In the sea urchin two mechanisms are debated: activation of ribosomes1,2 and activation of mRNA3,4, possibly through adenylation5,6. An inhibitor of protein synthesis has been isolated from ribosomes of unfertilised eggs of Paracentrotus lividus7,8 by extraction of ribosomes with high concentrations of salt. Metafora et al.7 found that this inhibitor is a protein, that it is not a ribonuclease and that it decreases ribosomal binding of a synthetic messenger (poly(U)) and of phenylalanine tRNA. They found that this inhibitor was absent from extracts of ribosomes of P. lividus blastulae, suggesting that it is inactivated or lost when the eggs are fertilised.
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HILLE, M. Inhibitor of protein synthesis isolated from ribosomes of unfertilised eggs and embryos of sea urchins. Nature 249, 556–558 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/249556a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/249556a0
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