Regulation of intracellular proteolysis in Escherichia coli cells by antisense mRNAs of the lon gene.

To explore the possibility of regulating proteolytic processes in Escherichia coli cells, a series of plasmids directing the synthesis of antisense mRNAs complementary to different regions of the lon gene was constructed. The effect of these antisense mRNAs on the rate of degradation of abnormal proteins (14C-labelled polypeptides containing puromycin or canavanine) in the bacterial cells was studied. The greatest inhibitory effect occurred in the case of a mRNA complementary to the regulatory region at the 5' end of the lon gene. The reasons for the differences in the efficiency of lon gene antisense mRNAs in inhibiting proteolysis are considered.