Use of a cloned cDNA sequence to measure changes in 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase mRNA levels caused by thyroid hormone and dietary carbohydrate.

A cDNA clone containing sequences complementary to the mRNA coding for rat hepatic 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase has been isolated and used to measure changes in specific mRNA levels during dietary and hormonal regulation of this enzyme. Hepatic mRNA was fractionated by sucrose gradient centrifugation to enrich for 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase mRNA sequences. A cDNA library was prepared from the fraction with maximal activity and then screened by differential colony hybridization using probes synthesized either from 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase mRNA enriched by polysome immunoadsorption or from unenriched hepatic mRNA. A single colony giving an appropriate differential signal was confirmed to contain sequences encoding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase by specific immunoprecipitation of hybrid-selected translational products. 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase mRNA contains about 2400 bases. The cloned cDNA comprises about 880 bases, or 35% of the mRNA. Southern analysis of restriction endonuclease digests of genomic DNA suggests that the major 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene is probably present in a single copy in the rat genome. Feeding a fat-free, high carbohydrate diet and administration of thyroid hormone increased the concentration of hybridizable 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase mRNA in liver. Thus, both dietary and hormonal regulation of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase synthesis occurs at a pretranslational level.