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Dissociability and tRNA content of monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and starvation

Abstract

DIMETHYLNITROSAMINE is an hepatotoxic agent which disaggregates liver polysomes into monosomes1,2. Previous investigations have suggested that polysome disaggregation results from alkylation and subsequent fragmentation of mRNA in polysomes3, producing complexed ribosomes. But, fragmentation has been ruled out by the findings that monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine dissociate into subunits in solutions containing high concentrations of KCl4,5 and that pretreatment of animals with cycloheximide prevents polysome disaggregation by dimethylnitrosamine6. In bacteria the single ribosome population contains both complexed and runoff ribosomes which can be distinguished by their dissociability7 and tRNA content8. Therefore, we have compared these properties in monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and by starvation, to determine whether they are runoff ribosomes. Our results show that in spite of their similar dissociability, monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and starvation differ in tRNA content.

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PLAPP, F., HAYES, L., TILZER, L. et al. Dissociability and tRNA content of monosomes produced by dimethylnitrosamine and starvation. Nature 247, 311–313 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/247311a0

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