Polyamine and nucleoprotein correlations in hypertrophied and perfused heart.

A close relationship has been observed between polyamine, as spermine and spermidine, and nucleic acid synthesis during heart hypertrophy, induced in the rats experimentally, by physical exericse (swimming). The role of spermine on RNA synthesis has been studied by perfusion experiments of the heart. Spermine is able to stimulate myocardial RNA synthesis of all subcellular fractions. The biochemical mechanism of this phenomenon may be explained by the results of histone acetylation under the action of spermine, showing an increased radioactivity of F 2aI and F 2a2 arginine-rich histone fractions. This suggests that spermine may act modulating histone acetylation, with a consequence on the gene transcription mechanism.