Nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions affecting DNA synthesis during induced cardiac muscle growth in the rat

Nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions affecting DNA synthesis during induced cardiac muscle growth were examined in 29 to 46 day old rats. DNA synthesis was examined in vitro using isolated nuclei from rat heart and adult X. laevis spleen. Cytoplasmic extract (CE) was obtained from a 105 000 g supernatant of rat heart and fetal liver homogenates. To measure DNA synthesis we utilised DNA within the isolated quiescent nucleus as the template and measured the effect of CE on the incorporation of 3H-TTP into an acid precipitable product. In a homologous system of rat heart nuclei from weanling rats and CE from cardiac muscle undergoing induced growth, no stimulation of 3H-TTP incorporation was observed. Cardiac muscle CE however, did possess stimulatory factor(s) since quiescent X. laevis nuclei could be stimulated with the rat heart CE. Furthermore, CE from hearts undergoing induced growth had greater activity than extract from control hearts. While cardiac muscle nuclei were not stimulated by heart CE, they showed substantial stimulation by CE from fetal rat liver, which contains a large population of proliferating cells. Stimulation by fetal rat liver was greater with nuclei obtained from hearts undergoing induced growth than from control hearts. Stimulatory factor(s) in CE was distinct from DNA polymerase-alpha activity, as shown by separation of the two activities on a 5 to 15% glycerol gradient.