Relative Effect of Transcription-Level and Translation-Level Control of Protein Synthesis during Early Development of the Sea Urchin

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 65; no. 4; pp. 985 - 992
• Main Author: Terman, Stanley A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.04.1970; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Biochemistry; Biological Sciences: Biochemistry; Carbon Isotopes; Coefficients; Dactinomycin - pharmacology; Echinodermata; Electrophoresis; Electrophoresis, Disc; Embryo, Nonmammalian - drug effects; Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism; Embryos; Gels; Genetic Code; Leucine - metabolism; Messenger RNA; Protein Biosynthesis; Protein synthesis; Proteins - analysis; Radiocarbon; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Sea urchins; Templates, Genetic; Tritium; Zygotes
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.65.4.985

Newly synthesized proteins were pulse labeled with radioactive amino acids at several developmental stages of the sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata--in normal embryos and in embryos continuously exposed to the drug Dactinomycin. The soluble proteins were fractionated by electrophoresis through polyacrylamide gels. A simple procedure for complete solubilization of the proteins in slices of gels into a solution of toluene for liquid scintillation counting, and a computer program to display and to compare statistically the distributions of14C- and3H-labeled proteins fractionated on the same gel, allowed quantitative statements to be made on the relative changes in protein synthesis. The conclusion is that translation-level control provides most of the changes in protein synthesis that occur between fertilization and hatched blastula stage.