Abstract
IN experiments utilizing purified crystalline ribonuclease in conjunction with various staining procedures, it has been possible to demonstrate that chromosomes of higher plants and animals contain appreciable quantities of nucleic acid of the ribose type. These experiments have also shown that ribonuclease may hydrolyse ribonucleoprotein, and that the residual material (non-histone protein) can be digested by pepsin. Conversely, ribonucleoprotein may be hydrolysed by pepsin, and the residual material (ribonucleic acid) degraded by ribonuclease. Such combination treatments have provided information concerning the localization of ribonucleo-proteins, ribonucleic acid and non-histone proteins in nucleus and cytoplasm. The validity of these methods for diagnostic purposes rests upon the use of highly purified and carefully assayed enzymes, and the employment of an adequate series of controls to determine the influence of variables capable of modifying the histochemical reactions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kaufmann, B. P., et al., Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book, 46, 136 (1947).
Brachet, J., C.R. Soc. Biol., 133, 88 (1940).
Schultz, J., Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 9, 55 (1941).
Cohen, S. S., J. Biol. Chem., 158, 255 (1945).
McDonald, M. R., J. Gen. Physiol. (in the press).
Mirsky, A. E., and Ris, H., J. Gen. Physiol., 31, 7 (1947).
Stedman, E., and Stedman, E., Nature, 152, 267 (1943); Edin. Med. J., 51, 353 (1944).
Mirsky, A. E., and Pollister, A. W., J. Gen. Physiol., 30, 117 (1946).
Schneider, W. C., J. Biol. Chem., 161, 293 (1945).
Mazia, D., Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 9, 40 (1941).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KAUFMANN, B., MCDONALD, M. & GAY, H. Enzymatic Degradation of Ribonucleoproteins of Chromosomes, Nucleoli and Cytoplasm. Nature 162, 814–815 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162814a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162814a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Transmission electron microscopic studies on the mitotic cycle of nucleolar proteins impregnated with silver
Chromosoma (1982)
-
�ber die Einwirkung von Nucleasen und Proteasen auf die Morphologie menschlicher Chromosomen
Human Genetics (1966)
-
Number and pattern of association of chromonemata in the chromosomes of Tradescantia
Chromosoma (1965)
-
The effects of inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis on cytological development during meiosis
Chromosoma (1964)
-
Differential Staining of Nucleic Acids?
Nature (1962)