Regulation of protein synthesis in human diploid fibroblasts: Reduced initiation efficiency in resting cultures

Abstract

The level of poly A⁺ RNA in growing cultures of human diploid fibroblasts is 1.8‐fold times greater than in resting cultures. The level of functional ribosomes in growing cultures is 2.8 times that in resting cultures. Since transit times are similar in both types of cells, it can be concluded that the rate of protein synthesis in growing cultures is 2.8 times that in resting cultures. A reduced efficiency of mRNA translation at the level of initiation in resting cultures is proposed as a probable explanation for the fact that the decrease in protein synthesis rates is greater than the decrease in mRNA levels. This hypothesis is supported by the observations that: (a) poly A⁺ RNA is associated with smaller polysomes in resting than in growing cells, and (b) cycloheximide treatment of resting cells results in recruitment of nonpolysomal poly A⁺ RNA into polysomes and a shift of polysomal poly A⁺ RNA into larger polysomes.