Transport of RNA from nucleus to cytoplasm following mitogenic stimulation of human lymphocytes
An improved method affording clean separation of nuclei from cytoplasm was utilized to study the kinetics of appearance of [3H]uridine-labelled polyadenylated (poly(A)+) and nonpolyadenylated (poly(A)−) RNA in the cytoplasm of human lymphocytes stimulated with the mitogen concanavalin A (Con A). While our previous and present studies utilizing lymphocyte preparations purified on Ficoll-Hypaque gradients had shown that the earliest observable increase in labelled total cell RNA occurred after 12 h of exposure to Con A, we were here able to detect highly significant increases in levels of uridine-labelled poly(A)− RNA in the cytoplasm of lymphocytes which had been exposed to mitogen for 6 h; these cells had been pulsed with [3H]uridine for 2 h prior to harvest. This suggested that the early effects of mitogen may be to increase processing and transport of RNA rather than to increase the production of gene transcripts. At least 13 h of exposure to Con A was required before labelled poly(A)+ RNA appeared in the cytoplasmic extracts of stimulated cells and it did not appear in those of resting cells. The lag between addition of isotope and appearance of labelled RNA in cytoplasm was inversely related to the duration of incubation of the cells with mitogen. However, once the label appeared in the cytoplasm, its rate of appearance and its final level were similar at both 12 and 36 h of incubation with Con A. These kinetic data also suggest that mitogen acts mainly to accelerate the processing and transport of RNA at least during the first 12 h of mitogenic stimulation. A concentration (0.05 μg/ml) of actinomycin D which is known to inhibit specifically the transcription of nucleolar RNA in a variety of cell types was found to affect the transcription of poly(A)+ RNA in human lymphocytes; in some experiments, specific inhibition of nucleolar RNA synthesis was observed at 0.005 μg actinomycin D per millilitre.