ISSN:
0148-7280
Keywords:
blastocyst
;
messenger RNA
;
heat shock
;
recombinant DNA
;
actin
;
transcription
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
We have utilized the rabbit 6-day blastocyst as a model system in which to examine the effect of environmental stress on embryonic gene expression. Elevation of the incubation temperature from 37 to 43 °C, exposure to 50 μM sodium arsenite or mechanical injury (resulting in the structural collapse of the 6-day rabbit blastocyst) was found to depress total protein synthesis as well as enhance the synthesis of a 70,000-dalton stress-induced protein. The molecular mass of this stress protein is similar to a heat shock protein (HSP) found in other eukaryotic systems. A recombinant DNA probe consisting of the 5′ end of a mouse gene for a 70,000-dalton HSP hybridized to RNA isolated from heat shocked, sodium arsenite-treated, and mechanically injured blastocysts but not to RNA isolated from control embryos. These results as well as in vitro translation data suggest that the expression of the 70 K HSP is controlled at the transcriptional level. The levels of actin mRNA, as detected by means of a recombinant DNA probe encoding a Drosophila actin gene, did not undergo a major alteration following these different stresses. The relevance of these observations to embryonic cellular homeostatis is discussed.
Additional Material:
4 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrd.1120100106
