Cytoplasmic control of DNA synthesis by myocardial nuclei

In vitro DNA synthesis by isolated myocardial nuclei declines rapidly during postnatal growth. To study the mechanism(s) responsible for this decline, cytoplasmic extracts (CE) were prepared from isolated rat myocytes at different times after birth. CE from 2-day-old rats stimulated in vitro DNA synthesis by myocardial nuclei from adult (6 mo old) rats (55 +/- 6 pmol[3H]dTMP . mg DNA-1 . 15 min-1 vs. 32 +/- 4 pmol [3H]dTMP . mg DNA-1 . 15 min-1 in untreated controls, P less than 0.01). The ability of cytoplasmic extracts of stimulate DNA synthesis decreased with age, from 73 +/- 9% over controls at age 2 days to 18 +/- 6 at 28 days; adult myocytes were essentially ineffective. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that CE-directed DNA synthesis was replicative and discontinuous. CE stimulatory activity was heat-labile, nondialyzable, trypsin-sensitive, and distinct from DNA polymerases. The results indicate that a) adult myocyte nuclei can be induced to synthesize DNA by cytoplasmic extracts from neonatal rats, and b) that absence of regulatory cytoplasmic factor(s) may, in part, explain the age-dependent decline in myocardial DNA synthesis.