The effect of various treatments in vitro and in vivo on the binding of 125I-labeled anti-rat serum albumin Fab' to rat tissue polyribosomes.

A quantitative assay was developed to permit estimation of the relative amounts of albumin-synthesizing polyribosomes in rat liver. The polyribosomes synthesizing albumin were identified by their capacity to bind anti-RSA Fab' radiolabeled with 125I. The anti-RSA Fab'-binding sites occur on the nascent peptide chains attached to liver polyribosomes. These binding sites can be saturated by preincubation of the polyribosomes with large quantities of unlabeled anti-RSA Fab'. The iodinated antibody did not react with polyribosomes isolated from a tissue which does not synthesize rat serum albumin. Pretreatment of hepatic polyribosomes with bovine pancreatic ribonuclease resulted in a 42% enhancement of binding of anti-RSA Fab'. Pretreatment of these polyribosomes with detergents or various levels of Mg2+ did not significantly affect the specific binding of the iodinated antibody. Anti-RSA Fab' associated preferentially with membrane-bound polyribosomes when compared with free polyribosomes following their isolation from animals maintained either on a 90% or a 0% protein diet fed ad libitum. Binding of anti-RSA Fab' to each A260 unit of membrane-bound polyribosomes is from 2.4 to 27 times greater than to each A260 unit of free polyribosomes. However, each A260 unit of free polyribosomes was found to associate with 1.8 times more anti-RSA Fab' when compared with the "loosely bound" subclass of membrane-bound polyribosomes. Each A260 unit of the "tightly bound" subclass of membrane-bound polyribosomes reacted with 4.3 times as much antibody as compared with free polyribosomes. Polyribosomes isolated from the livers of rats sacrificed 6 h after treatment with actinomycin D showed a 42% reduction in their capacity to bind anti-RSA Fab'. Polyribosomes from rats sacrificed 2 h after treatment with actinomycin D showed no reduction in binding capacity. Free polyribosomes from three Morris hepatomas were capable of binding anti-RSA Fab' whereas the antibody would not associate with the membrane-bound polyribosomes of the same hepatomas. Thus the binding of 125I-labeled Fab' antibody molecules to polyribosomes is a useful technique for the subcellular localization of polyribosomes synthesizing specific proteins and for the estimation of the relative proportions of such polyribosomes.