Biochemical correlates of cardiac hypertrophy. II. Increased rate of RNA synthesis in experimental cardiac hypertrophy in the rat

Cardiac hypertrophy was produced in rats by banding the ascending aorta. Increases in heart weight and RNA content occurred within 48 hours, indicating that hypertrophy develops rapidly. The total RNA content and the specific radioactivity of RNA labeled with 3 H-uridine were determined. The rate of RNA synthesis was estimated from these data and from the specific radioactivity of the myocardial uridine nucleotide pool. The rate of RNA synthesis in hearts of banded animals averaged four times greater than controls on the second postoperative day and about two to three times greater on the fourth to fifth postoperative days. An expansion of the myocardial uridine nucleotide pool was observed in banded rats, but the size of the myocardial adenosine nucleotide pool was not changed. No changesin base composition of 28S, 18S, or 4S RNA were observed following cardiac hypertrophy.

Biochemical correlates of cardiac hypertrophy. I. Experimental model; changes in heart weight, RNA content, and nuclear RNA polymerase activity

Cardiac hypertrophy occurred in mature rats after producing supravalvular aortic stenosis with a specially designed silver clip. For 2 weeks following this procedure, heart weight, body weight, and RNA content of the myocardium were serially determined. Heart weight and RNA content increased within 24 hours of aortic banding, reaching a maximal level in 2 days and remaining elevated during the 2 weeks of observation. Nuclei were isolated and purified from heart muscle homogenates, and changes in RNA polymerase activity following aortic banding were determined. The nearest neighbor frequency of the bases of the RNA synthesized by the polymerase from nuclear preparations was identical in both the banded animals and the sham-operated controls. Both groups could thus be compared on the basis of the enzyme assay. RNA polymerase activity in nuclei from the hearts of banded rats rose rapidly when compared with the activity in sham-operated rats; peak values were reached on the second day, the earliest detectable change being around 12 hours. The increase in RNA polymerase activity represents one of the earliest biochemical events that take place in the myocardium following aortic banding.