Androgenic regulation of rapidly synthesized RNA in the rat ventral prostate.

The influence of castration on the incorporation of nucleotide precursors into RNA of isolated prostatic tissue has been investigated. Castration brought about an apparent increase of incorporation by increasing the specific activity of the uridine nucleotide pool and not by an enhancement in synthesis of rapidly labelled RNA. An actual decrease in this reaction was shown by dividing the radioactivity incorporated into RNA by the specific activity of the uridine nucleotide. Administration of testosterone brought about enhanced synthesis of RNA in the prostates of rats castrated for 3 days as early as 4 h after injection, reaching maximum effect at 8 h. No significant difference was found between the turnover rates of rapidly labelled RNA from castrated, androgen-treated castrated and intact rats. The increased prostatic permeability to nucleosides as an early action of androgens in this organ is discussed.