INHIBITION OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN MAMMALIAN CELL-FREE SYSTEMS BY CHLORAMPHENICOL

Abstract

Chloramphenicol can inhibit protein synthesis in mammalian cell-free systems as effectively as it inhibits protein synthesis in analogous microbial systems. Significant inhibition in mammalian systems was obtained only when protein synthesis was stimulated by the addition of template RNA to the system, there being comparatively little inhibition of protein synthesis by ribosomes in the absence of stimulatory RNA. It is postulated that chloramphenicol may inhibit the function of messenger or template RNA by successfully competing for ribosomal binding sites, thereby preventing the attachment of RNA to ribosomes.