PMID: 6162844Apr 10, 1981Paper

Studies on the mechanism of aflatoxin B1 inhibition of rat liver nucleolar RNA synthesis.

The Journal of Biological Chemistry
F L Yu

Abstract

In an earlier report, it was shown that aflatoxin B1 treatment strongly inhibits rat liver nucleolar RNA synthesis (Yu, F. L. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 3245-3251). The present paper is an attempt to elucidate the mechanism of this inhibition. Two h after aflatoxin B1 injection (0.3 mg/100 g body weight), rat liver nucleolar RNA synthesis, in vitro, was inhibited by an average of 90%. This inhibition could result from (a) inhibited RNA polymerase I activity per se, (b) impaired nucleolar DNA template, or (c) impaired nucleolar chromatin. Earlier studies found that the total RNA polymerase I activity was not affected by aflatoxin B1 treatment. In the present work the total nucleolar DNAs from control and from aflatoxin B1-treated groups were isolated and compared for template efficiencies in directing RNA synthesis with solubilized RNA polymerase I from the control group. No difference was found. However, when nucleolar chromatin function was analyzed, it was found that aflatoxin B1 treatment resulted in a dramatic reduction in the RNA chain elongation rate to only 13% of the control. The chain number, which is a measure of the number of engaged enzymes transcribing the nucleolar chromatin initiated in vivo, was only slightly re...Continue Reading

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