title: Short-lived methylated messenger RNA in mouse kidney.
abstract: In experiments originally designed to examine selective turnover of methylated "caps" in renal mRNA, we observed that [3H]methyl label decayed from mRNA containing poly(A) with a half-life of 1-2 hr. (Caps are blocked, methylated mRNA sequences of the general structure m7GpppNm p(1 or 2)Np.). To distinguish between metabolism of short-lived mRNA and discriminate turnover of "caps", we compared residual [3H]methyl label in 5' and 3'mRNA fragments prepared from mRNA isolated during the decay period. Hydrolysis of mRNA at 0 degrees with dilute KOH before oligo(dT)-cellulose selection produced 5' mRNA fragments enriched with an alkali-resistant oligonucleotide with a -5 charge; the 3' mRNA fraction was correspondingly reduced in oligonucleotide content. Since methyl label disappeared at the same rate from both fractions, we conclude that mouse kidney contains short-lived mRNA and that the "caps" of these labile mRNAs turn over with the rest of the mRNA molecule.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis; D011061:Poly A; D011132:Polyribosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011061:Poly A