Inactive mRNA-protein complexes from mouse sarcoma-180 ascites cells.

Mouse sarcoma ascites cells do not utilize fully their capacity for protein synthesis. A considerable portion of their ribosomes occur as inactive monomers. Also, a substantial amount of the cellular mRNA is in the form of ribonucleoprotein particles that sediment in the 20-70S range. This is indicated both by measurements of poly(A) content and by translation of the RNA in cell-free systems. The population of polypeptides synthesized under the direction of the RNA from these particles is less heterogeneous than that directed by RNA from polysomes. The mRNAs for some polypeptides are present predominantly in the small particles. Others are distributed to varying degrees between particles and polysomes. Incubation of the cells with cycloheximide drives most of the ribosomal monomers and a portion of the untranslated mRNA into polysomes. Some of the mRNAs that were predominantly in the inactive fraction seem to be refractory to this treatment. Particles released from polysomes in cells subjected to starvation are quite effective in promoting polypeptide synthesis in a reticulocyte cell-free system and cause the synthesis of a population of polypeptides similar to that coded by the polysomal RNA. The particles from cells exposed to cycloheximide are inactive but yield active RNA upon deproteinization. It is suggested that some mRNA species are maintained in an inactive state in the cell by a component of the nucleoprotein complex.