Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1971 Sep;68(9):2177–2180. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.9.2177

Cortisone Stimulation of Nucleolar RNA Polymerase Activity

Fu-Li Yu 1,2, Philip Feigelson 1,2
PMCID: PMC389379  PMID: 5289377

Abstract

Four hours after intraperitoneal injection of cortisone acetate into rats, hepatic nuclei had an enhanced ability to incorporate labeled nucleoside triphosphates into RNA in vitro. When the nuclei were further fractionated into nucleolar and extranucleolar (nucleoplasmic) fractions, it was found that this hormonal effect was localized exclusively in the nucleolar fraction. This increased transcriptive activity potentially could be due to either (a) an increased availability of the DNA template or (b) an increase in the amount or catalytic efficiency of the RNA polymerase, or both. In order to distinguish between these possibilities, actinomycin D was used to inhibit the template function of endogenous nucleolar DNA and a synthetic template, polydeoxycytidylate, which is insensitive to actinomycin D and codes for polyriboguanylate synthesis, was used to evaluate RNA polymerase activity. These studies indicate that the increased RNA synthesis evident in nucleoli isolated from livers of rats four hours after cortisone treatment is largely a consequence of elevated levels of RNA polymerase.

Keywords: rat, actinomycin D

Full text

PDF
2177

Selected References

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

  1. Agarwal M. K., Hanoune J., Yu F. L., Weinstein I. B., Feigelson P. Studies on the effect of cortisone on rat liver transfer ribonucleic acid. Biochemistry. 1969 Dec;8(12):4806–4812. doi: 10.1021/bi00840a023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BARNABEI O., SERENI F. CORTISOL-INDUCED INCREASE OF TYROSINE-ALPHA-KETOGLUTARATE TRANSAMINASE IN THE ISOLATED PERFUSED RAT LIVER AND ITS RELATION TO RIBONUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1964 Oct 16;91:239–247. doi: 10.1016/0926-6550(64)90247-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BROWN D. D., GURDON J. B. ABSENCE OF RIBOSOMAL RNA SYNTHESIS IN THE ANUCLEOLATE MUTANT OF XENOPUS LAEVIS. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1964 Jan;51:139–146. doi: 10.1073/pnas.51.1.139. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Barnabei O., Romano B., Di Bitonto G., Tomasi V., Sereni F. Factors influencing the glucocorticoid-induced increase of ribonucleic acid polymerase activity of rat liver nuclei. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1966 Feb;113(2):478–486. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(66)90217-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dahmus M. E., Bonner J. Increased template activity of liver chromatin, a result of hydrocortisone administration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1965 Nov;54(5):1370–1375. doi: 10.1073/pnas.54.5.1370. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Drews J., Brawerman G. Alterations in the nature of ribonucleic acid synthesized in rat liver during regeneration and after cortisol administration. J Biol Chem. 1967 Mar 10;242(5):801–808. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dukes P. P., Sekeris C. E., Schmid W. On the mechanism of hormone action. VI. Increase in template activity of ribonucleic acid from isolated nuclei incubated in the presence of hormone. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1966 Jul 20;123(1):126–133. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. FEIGELSON M., GROSS P. R., FEIGELSON P. Early effects of cortisone on nucleic acid and protein metabolism of rat liver. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1962 Apr 2;55:495–504. doi: 10.1016/0006-3002(62)90982-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. FEIGELSON P., FEIGELSON M. Studies on the mechanism of regulation by cortisone of the metabolism of liver purine and ribonucleic acid. J Biol Chem. 1963 Mar;238:1073–1077. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. GORSKI J. EARLY ESTROGEN EFFECTS ON THE ACTIVITY OF UTERINE RIBONUCLEIC ACID POLYMERASE. J Biol Chem. 1964 Mar;239:889–892. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hanoune J., Feigelson P. Turnover of protein and RNA of liver ribosomal components in normal and cortisol-treated rats. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Jan 21;199(1):214–223. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(70)90710-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jacob S. T., Sajdel E. M., Munro H. N. Regulation of nucleolar RNA metabolism by hydrocortisone. Eur J Biochem. 1969 Feb;7(4):449–453. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1969.tb19630.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. LANG N., SEKERKIS C. E. STIMULATION OF RNA-POLYMERASE ACTIVITY IN RAT LIVER BY CORTISOL. Life Sci. 1964 May;3:391–393. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(64)90198-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Munro H. N. The determination of nucleic acids. Methods Biochem Anal. 1966;14:113–176. doi: 10.1002/9780470110324.ch5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Muramatsu M., Shimada N., Higashinakagawa T. Effect of cycloheximide on the nucleolar RNA synthesis in rat liver. J Mol Biol. 1970 Oct 14;53(1):91–106. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90047-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pogo A. O., Littau V. C., Allfrey V. G., Mirsky A. E. Modification of ribonucleic Acid synthesis in nuclei isolated from normal and regenerating liver: some effects of salt and specific divalent cations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Mar;57(3):743–750. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.3.743. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. RITOSSA F. M., SPIEGELMAN S. LOCALIZATION OF DNA COMPLEMENTARY TO RIBOSOMAL RNA IN THE NUCLEOLUS ORGANIZER REGION OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1965 Apr;53:737–745. doi: 10.1073/pnas.53.4.737. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Reich E., Goldberg I. H. Actinomycin and nucleic acid function. Prog Nucleic Acid Res Mol Biol. 1964;3:183–234. doi: 10.1016/s0079-6603(08)60742-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tae Suk R. o., Muramatsu M., Busch H. Labeling of RNA of isolated nucleoli with UTP-14C. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1964;14:149–155. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(64)90245-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Widnell C. C., Tata J. R. Studies on the stimulation by ammonium sulphate of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of isolated rat-liver nuclei. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1966 Sep;123(3):478–492. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(66)90216-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Yu F. L., Feigelson P. A comparative study of RNA synthesis in rat hepatic nuclei and mitochondria under the influence of cortisone. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Jul 16;213(1):134–141. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(70)90014-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Yu F. L., Feigelson P. Effects of cortisone and actinomycin-D upon pyrimidine nucleotide and RNA metabolism in rat liver. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1969 Jan;129(1):152–157. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(69)90161-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yu F. L., Feigelson P. The sequential stimulation of uracil-rich and guanine-rich RNA species during cortisone induction of hepatic enzymes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1969 May 22;35(4):499–504. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(69)90374-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES