AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR THE ISOLATION OF RAT LIVER NUCLEI BY DENSITY CENTRIFUGATION

The regulation of protein synthesis in the liver of rats. Mechanisms of dietary amino acid control in the immature animal

Weanling (23-day-old) rats were fed either on an amino acid-deficient diet (6% of casein, which in effect represents an ;amino acid-deficient' diet) or on a diet containing an adequate amount of protein (18% of casein) for 28 days. The hepatic cells from the animals fed on the low-protein diet were characterized by low amino acid content, almost complete inhibition of cell proliferation and a marked decrease in cell volume, protein content and concentration of cytoplasmic RNA compared with cells from control rats. The lower concentration of cytoplasmic RNA was correlated with a decreased ribosomal-RNA content, of which a larger proportion was in the form of free ribosomes. The protein-synthetic competence and messenger-RNA content of isolated ribosomes from liver cells of protein-deprived animals were 40-50% of those noted in controls. At 1hr. after an injection of radioactive uridine, the specific radioactivity of liver total RNA was greater in the group fed on the low-protein diet, but the amount of label that was associated with cytoplasmic RNA or ribosomes was significantly less than that noted in control animals. From these data it was concluded that dietary amino acids regulate hepatic protein synthesis (1) by affecting the ability of polyribosomes to synthesize protein and (2) by influencing the concentration of cytoplasmic ribosomes. It is also tentatively hypothesized that the former process may be directly related to the concentration of cellular free amino acids, whereas the latter could be correlated with the ability of newly synthesized ribosomal sub-units to leave the nucleus.

[Chicken erythrocyte nuclei: composition and analysis of phospholipids]

While many works analyse lipid composition of cellular nuclei, essentially of liver, few describe bird erythrocyte nuclei. For them very discordant results are reported due to very different methods of preparation. In the method we adopted a good reproducibility is controlled by electron microscopy, evaluation of specific enzymatic activities and by protein, RNA and DNA determinations. Total lipid content and phospholipid composition were determined showing, in agreement with other works, the predominance of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. On the contrary, the nuclear fraction is poor in sphingomyelin, which is essentially a plasma membrane phospholipid.

Studies on the permeability of calf thymus nuclei isolated in sucrose

A study of the permeability of calf thymus nuclei isolated in sucrose was carried out with sucrose-14C, glycerol-14C, and carboxydextran-14C (molecular weight, 60,000-90,000). The results indicate that the nuclei are very permeable to both sucrose and glycerol but they exclude the carboxydextran. Results obtained with other low molecular weight non-electrolytes (malonamide-14C, erythritol-14C, D-arabinose-14C, and D-mannitol-14C) are in agreement with the view that the nuclei are freely permeable to these molecular species. A sucrose-impermeable space is also present in these preparations and it has been attributed to the presence of intact cells. The high permeability of nuclei to sucrose was confirmed with Ficoll-separated preparations. The possibility of the presence of a substantial particulate space that allows the penetration of dextran cannot be excluded by these experiments, and this space may correspond to damaged nuclei.

Electron microscopic and biochemical characteristics of nuclei and nucleoli isolated from rat liver

Rat liver nuclei were freed of cytoplasmic contamination by washing with Triton-X-100 and subsequent centrifugation through 2.2 M sucrose. Electron microscopic examination showed that the outer membranes of the nuclei had been removed, but that the nuclei otherwise resembled the nuclei of intact liver. Morphological studies, chemical estimations of DNA, RNA, and protein and the estimation of cytoplasmic "marker" enzymes suggested that contamination of nuclei by cytoplasmic components was limited. These nuclei were obtained in yields of about 70% and were suitable for the isolation of nucleoli. Nucleoli were isolated by the breaking of the nuclei by ultrasound and subsequent differential centrifugation. In ultrastructural appearance, the isolated nucleoli resembled nucleoli in intact tissue. However, at high magnifications the "granular" component of isolated nucleoli appeared to consist of tightly twisted fibers. The nucleoli could be obtained in yields of at least 30%, and the values for the chemical composition of the isolated nucleoli agreed with values previously reported.