Regulation of hepatic poly(A) endonuclease by corticosterone and amino acids

Increase in the levels of activity of polyadenylic acid-metabolizing enzymes following phytohaemagglutinin stimulation of human lymphocytes

Increased levels of soluble activity of all three enzymes involved in polyadenylic acid metabolism were measured in PHA-stimulated versus normal lymphocytes. Poly(A)-polymerase and poly(A)-exonuclease values increased significantly (from 25.7 +/- 4.2 (S.E.M.) to 53.5 +/- 10.6 (S.E.M.), and from 334.6 +/- 33.2 (S.E.M.) to 653.2 +/- 53.4 (S.E.M.) respectively), while a moderate increase was observed in poly(A)-endonuclease (from 299.2 +/- 33.8 (S.E.M.) to 403.0 +/- 77.1 (S.E.M.). The above differences persisted after two fractionations of the crude cell extracts by ion exchange chromatography and molecular sieving, and could not be attributed to the competitive action of all three enzymes in the untreated extracts. Fractionation of the extracts of resting and stimulated cells on Sephadex G-75 revealed two molecular forms of poly(A)-polymerase activity.

Early changes in nucleoplasmic poly(A) polymerase activity in immature rabbit uterus after estradiol administration

To study the role of post-transcriptional polyadenylation in the mechanism of estrogen action, we measured free nucleoplasmic poly(A) polymerase activity in intact uterine nuclei of immature rabbits at timed intervals after a single intravenous dose of estradiol (20 microgram/kg body weight). Uterine nuclear poly(A) polymerase activity was altered in a biphasic manner by estradiol treatment with maximal activities occurring at 0.5 h and 12 h of steroid administration, at which time periods they were about 2- and 3-fold higher than pretreatment levels, respectively. The later increase in the enzyme activity was totally abolished by a prior cycloheximide (0.5 mg/kg) administration, whereas the initial activation of poly(A) polymerase seemed to occur via mechanism(s) independent of protein synthesis. It thus appears that changes in uterine nuclear poly(A) polymerase closely resemble those previously reported for the activity of RNA polymerase II after estradiol treatment.