Functional aspect of a phosphopeptide derived from calf thymus nuclei and DNA

Phosphopeptides (PPs) isolated from highly purified calf thymus DNA (N-DNA) and extracted from calf thymus nuclei were fractionated, and the effect of one PP fraction on DNA replication has been examined. In the absence of inhibitors, the increasing PP concentration caused a linear decrease of 3H-thymidine uptake in L5178Y cells. If PP fraction was mildly hydrolysed with 1NHCl, the decrease in uptake was much steeper. The studies in which the inhibitors were used revealed that by the addition of the unhydrolysed PP fraction the inhibition of 3H-thymidine uptake by alpha-amanitin could be completely overcome, and that the inhibition by puromycin was reduced to 65-77% of the control. With puromycin, there was a gradual decrease of 3H-thymidine uptake with PP concentration above 3 mg/ml. The PPs gave an increase in incorporation of 3H-thymidine even after removal of alpha-amanitin and puromycin; thus, it is suggested that there is no direct interaction of either inhibitor with PP in the cell. Data on the utilization of 3H-cytidine for the synthesise of new DNA suggest that PP fraction might cause an acceleration of DNA replication.