Diversity and Complexity of Uterine mRNA from Rats of Differing Hormonal States

Abstract
The diversity and complexity of the uterine mRNA population was compared at 2 different stages of uterine growth and development in the rat. Analysis by c[complementary]DNA hybridization to homologous mRNA indicated that there are 8000 different sequences expressed in the immature rat uterus responding to just 4 h of estradiol-17.beta.-induced growth while the fully developed uterus expresses 36,000 sequences. As a check on the results, the complexity was re-analyzed by hybridization of mercurated mRNA to total unique DNA. Analysis by this method indicated that the hormone-stimulated immature rat uterus contains 12,000 poly(A)-containing mRNA sequences while the fully differentiated adult tissue contains 53,000 diverse sequences.