cis-recognition and degradation of ornithine decarboxylase subunits in reticulocyte lysate.

One of the most interesting characteristics of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is its extremely short half-life. In a recent study we have demonstrated that deletion of a C-terminal segment converts ODC into a stable protein. In the present study we have extended this observation by testing the degradation of an ODC heterodimer composed of one rapidly degraded wild-type subunit and one stable mutant subunit. Our study was motivated by the possibility of trans-recognition of stable subunits due to their association with labile subunits. Our results demonstrate that such an association did not confer lability upon the stable subunits, not did it stabilize the short-lived subunits.