PMID: 6982898Dec 10, 1982Paper

Translational control of ferritin synthesis by iron in embryonic reticulocytes of the bullfrog.

The Journal of Biological Chemistry
G E Shull, E C Theil

Abstract

The regulation of ferritin synthesis by iron was examined in the reticulocytes of bullfrog tadpoles where the induction was 40- to 50-fold, increasing from 0.17 +/- 0.05% of total protein synthesis ([3H]leucine incorporation in cell suspension) to 7.4 +/- 1.6% following intraperitoneal injection of ferric ammonium citrate. No significant difference was observed between the levels of ferritin mRNA in control or iron-induced cells, determined by translation of isolated mRNA in a wheat germ system, demonstrating that ferritin induction by iron occurs by a post-transcriptional mechanism. Total protein synthesis in the wheat germ system was half-saturating at 10 micrograms of mRNA/ml whereas ferritin synthesis increased linearly up to 40 micrograms of mRNA/ml, demonstrating that the ferritin mRNA is translated with high efficiency relative to the total proteins synthesized. Studies with the cap analogue 7-methylguanosine-5'-monophosphate, suggest that cap binding is not directly involved in the high translational efficiency of the ferritin mRNA in the wheat germ system. The results indicate that iron-modulated changes in the availability of ferritin mRNA for translation, coupled with the high translational efficiency of the ferritin...Continue Reading

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