Poly(A)- and oligo(A)-adjacent sequences in RNA from the large hnRNP complexes of rat liver

The present report describes the isolation of hnRNP complexes with sedimentation coefficients greater than 80 S from rat liver nuclei without the use of ribonuclease inhibitors. The RNA moiety from these complexes is heterogeneous in size, with a mean sedimentation coefficient of 16 S when assayed with polyacrylamide-formamide gel electrophoresis. About 3% of this RNA binds to oligo(dT)-cellulose, the size of the bound fraction being somewhat smaller than the bulk of the hnRNP-RNA. This poly(A) RNA contains two adenylate tracts, one with about 30 and the second with about 200 adenylate residues. Reverse transcription of the poly(A)-containing RNA and hybridization of the cDNA with their respective templates shows two well-defined frequency populations, the first one separated from the second by almost 2.5 logs in the R0t curve. The same distribution was found, whether the hybrids were analysed with S1 nuclease or hydroxyapatite. Both separated frequency classes hybridize to total genomic DNA, the abundant one at C0t values typical for repetitive and unique sequences, the scarce one only at C0t values typical for unique sequences. The two populations are also able to hybridize with polysomal polyadenylated mRNA, the dilution of both frequencies being very similar in the cytoplasm.