Research findings from Brigham and Women's Hospital update understanding of cellular biochemistry
2007 NOV 22 -- "The intertidal marine snail, Littorina littorea, is an anoxia tolerant species that endures long-term oxygen deprivation using a suite of compensatory metabolic adaptations that includes overall metabolic rate depression. Nuclear run-off assays were used to quantify the relative rates of mRNA transcription in nuclear extracts from hepatopancreas of aerobic and anoxic snails," scientists in the United States report. "Total [P-32]-UTP incorporation into RNA by nuclei from 48 h anoxic snails ranged from 42 to 50% of that observed for nuclei from normoxic snails. When this data is transformed with respect to incubation time, the rate of [P-32]-UTP incorporation by nuclei from 48 h anoxic snails showed a decrease of 68% as compared with the normoxic level. Examination of selected expressed sequence tags also showed an overall decrease in mRNA transcription levels in samples derived from anoxic nuclei as compared with normoxic nuclei. Control of ribosomal translation was also examined by assessing the levels of the eukaryotic initiation factors eIF-2 alpha and eIF-4E and the eukaryotic elongation factor-1 gamma (eEF-1 gamma). Levels of eIF-4E and eEF-1 gamma did not change between aerobic and anoxic states, but the amount of phosphorylated inactive eIF-2 alpha rose strongly under anoxic conditions indicating that control of this factor is key to suppressing protein translation in anoxic snails," wrote K. Larade and colleagues, Brigham and Women's Hospital. The researchers concluded: "Since gene transcription is an ATP expensive process in cells, suppression of transcription to minimum levels provides substantial energy savings for the hepatopancreas, and the organism as a whole, under anoxic conditions." Larade and colleagues published their study in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry (Arrest of transcription following anoxic exposure in a marine mollusc. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 2007;303(1-2):243-249). For more information, contact K. Larade, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Dept. of Medical, Division Hematology, 75 Francis St., CHRB-05-005E, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Publisher contact information for the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry is: Springer, Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands. Keywords: United States, Boston, Life Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Brigham and Women's Hospital. This article was prepared by Hospital Law Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Hospital Law Week via NewsRx.com.
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