Summary
Incorporation of tritiated amino acids and uridine was studied in untreated and actinomycin D treated HeLa cells by high resolution autoradiography. Results showed a non-selective inhibition of protein synthesis by actinomycin, as measured by the decrease in radioactive amino acid uptake. When cells pretreated with actinomycin D were incubated with radioactive amino acids and uridine, amino acid uptake in the nucleolus still occurred, while uridine uptake was almost completely eliminated. These findings suggest that in the absence of ribosomal RNA precursor synthesis, nucleolar protein synthesis continues to some extent, and that this protein is transported to the nucleolus.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Oreenberg, J.R.: High stability of messenger RNA in growing cultured cells. Nature240, 102 (1972)
Maden, B.E.H., Vaughan, M.H., Warner, J.R., Darnell, J.E.: Effects of valine deprivation on ribosome formation in HeLa cells. J. Mol. Biol.45, 265 (1969)
Maisel, J.C., McConkey, E.H.: Nuclear protein metabolism in actinomycin D treated HeLa cells. J. Mol. Biol.61, 251 (1971)
Martinez, A., Argüelles, F., Cervera, J., Gomar, F. Jr.: Sites of sulfatation in the chondrocytes of the articular cartilage of the rabbit. A study by quantitative radioautography of high resolution. Virchows Arch. B Cell Path.23, 53 (1977)
Murphy, W., Attardi, G.: Stability of cytoplasmic messenger RNA in HeLa cells. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.70, 115 (1973)
Perry, R.P.: Selective effects of actinomycin D on the intracellular distribution of RNA synthesis in tissue culture cells. Exp. Cell Res.29, 400 (1963)
Puckett, L., Chambers, S., Darnell, J.E.: Short-lived messenger RNA in HeLa cells and its impact on the kinetics of accumulation of cytoplasmic polyadenylate. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.72, 389 (1975)
Singer, R.H., Penman, S.: Stability of HeLa cells mRNA in actinomycin. Nature240, 100 (1972)
Warner, J.R.: In the absence of ribosomal RNA synthesis, the ribosomal proteins of HeLa cells are synthesized normally and degraded rapidly. J. Mol. Biol.115, 315 (1977)
Wu, R.S., Kumar, A., Warner, J.R.: Ribosome formation is blocked by camptothecin, a reversible inhibitor of RNA synthesis. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.68, 3009 (1971)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martinez-Ramón, A. Effects of actinomycin D on ribosomal RNA and protein synthesis as revealed by high resolution autoradiography. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 31, 251–257 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02889942
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02889942