Effect of 7-methylguanosine-5'-phosphate on the translation of rat milk-protein mRNAs in the wheat-germ cell-free system.

The translation of polyadenylated and of non-polyadenylated RNA obtained from lactating rat mammary gland was almost totally inhibited by 0.5 mM 7-methylguanosine-5'-phosphate in the wheat-germ cell-free system. This inhibition was maintained during the preparation of the 9S whey-protein mRNA and of the 12S and 15S casein mRNAs. Chemical decapping of these mRNAs caused a similar reduction of their activity. Although a large fraction of milk-protein mRNAs have been reported to lack 3'-polyadenylation, these results show that the mRNAs in the mammary gland do contain a 5'-terminal 7-methylguanosine cap.