DNA synthetic ability in cerebella from temperature and handling stressed neonatal rats

DNA synthetic ability of neonatal rat cerebellum was studied in two stressful conditions (cooling and excessive handling) which may be inadvertently imposed during the course of certain experiments. A rate study of the ability of animals handled excessively for 10 min to incorporate 14C-thymidine into the DNA tissue fraction (DNAF) from the acid soluble tissue fraction (ASF) of the cerebellum revealed a decreased DNA synthetic ability which lasted for 1 hr. Animals with very low core temperatures incorporated little 14C into the DNAF from the ASF 2 hr after an IP injection of 14C-thymidine. There was a proportional decrease in the ability to synthesize DNA as core temperature decreased.