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. 1970 Dec;67(4):1943–1950. doi: 10.1073/pnas.67.4.1943

Uptake of Transfer Ribonucleic Acid by Normal and Leukemic Cells*

Flor Herrera 1,2, Richard H Adamson 1,2, Robert C Gallo 1,2
PMCID: PMC283451  PMID: 4923121

Abstract

Uptake of tRNA (Escherichia coli) was demonstrated in the murine leukemia, L1210 and in a human lymphoblast (NC-37) cell lines. In both cell lines, uptake of tRNA was rapid, reaching a maximum within 45 sec, and was linear with concentration up to about 50 μg/ml. This uptake of exogenous tRNA apparently was not due to altered membrane permeability or impaired cell viability, nor to ribonuclease degradation of the macromolecule. Furthermore, about 20% of the tRNA taken up by the cells remains functional and apparently intact. This was demonstrated by: (a) acylation with E. coli aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases; (b) methylation with leukemic cell tRNA-methylases, and (c) demonstrating 14C-labeled 4S RNA in the cytoplasmic fraction of the leukemic cells after the addition of E. coli [14C]tRNA. The results demonstrate that tRNA can enter mammalian cells and suggest that an energy independent, carrier-mediated, mechanism may be operative.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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