Intracellular ratio between monovalent cations (Na+/K+), and transcriptional activity of genes in tumour cells.

The effects of the intracellular Na+/K+ ratio on transcriptional activity of ribosomal, c-fos, beta-actin and histone genes of Ehrlich ascites tumour cells and P-388 leukaemia cells have been investigated. Optimum values of the Na+/K+ ratio for selective transcription of genes are shown, they are in accordance with the Na+/K+ ratio and mRNA content of respective genes during the cell cycle. Differential activation and repression of these genes do not correlate with the total synthesis rate of RNA during the cell cycle. The data indicate a selective nature of the action of monovalent cations on gene expression during the cell growth.