The influence of tetracyclines on the aggregation of free and membrane-bound polysomes and on the RNA content of the liver of mice.

Tetracycline (100 micrograms/g) and, to a lesser extent, doxycycline (50 and 100 micrograms/g) inhibited the aggregation of free but not of membrane-bound polysomes in the livers of female NMRI mice. In addition tetracycline decreased the RNA content of the fraction of membrane-bound polysomes probably due to detachment from their membrane sites.