Influence of altered transcription on the translational control of human ferritin expression

In this paper, we examine the response of a translational regulatory mechanism when changes in mRNA levels are induced. The gene that encodes the human ferritin heavy chain has been transfected into mouse fibroblasts. Stable transformants that express the human ferritin heavy chain have been isolated. This protein assembles into ferritin polymers and can co-assemble with host mouse ferritin. Biosynthetic rates of the expressed human ferritin varied over a wide range in response to perturbations in iron supply, but total and cytoplasmic messenger RNA levels remained unchanged. When changes in ferritin mRNA levels were induced by treatment with sodium butyrate, proportional changes in the biosynthetic rates of ferritin were observed, but the capacity for modulating biosynthesis in response to alterations in iron availability was preserved. These findings suggest that the final protein biosynthetic rate of a translationally regulated gene depends on both translational regulatory signals and underlying transcription rates.