[Crystallin synthesis in the lens of newborn mice].

Lenses of newborn mice were incubated for different time in the Hanks solution containing 14C-amino acids mixture. Syntheses of gamma-crystallin and subunits of alpha-crystallin were shown to start at the first minute of the incybation. The incorporation rate of 14C-amino acids into gamma-crystallin was twice as high as that into alpha-crystallin within 5 minutes of the incubation. The assembly of alpha-crystallin tetramers took place after 5 minutes from the beginning of the incubation. Preincubation with actinomycin D for 3 and 6 hours resulted in the decrease of 14C-amino acids incorporation into gamma-crystallin only. These data suggest that the synthesis of gamma-crystallin takes place on both short-lived and long-lived mRNAs. Alpha-Crystallin subunits are supposed to synthesize only on long-lived mRNAs.