title: Rapid inactivation of ovalbumin messenger ribonucleic acid after acute withdrawal of estrogen.
abstract: Synthesis of ovalbumin mRNA is induced and maintained in the avian oviduct by estrogen. When estrogen is rapidly removed from circulation, there is a general involution of the oviduct and an unusually rapid decay of ovalbumin mRNA activity. The kinetics of ovalbumin mRNA decay were not first order; instead, the rate of degradation increased about 10-fold over a 20-hr period after removal of estrogen. These results are in contrast with first-order decay kinetics observed for ovalbumin mRNA in estrogen-stimulated chicks (t(1/2) = about 24 hr) and in cell-free extracts. The degradative response triggered by hormonal withdrawal becomes more rapid between 1 and 4 days of estrogen-stimulated growth. We conclude that in the process of inducing egg-white protein synthesis, estrogen produces a cellular environment in which the egg-white protein mRNAs are relatively stable; removal of estrogen initiates cellular catabolism in a manner that is not understood.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007700:Kinetics; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010057:Oviducts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014316:Tritium
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014316:Tritium; D004958:Estradiol; D010047:Ovalbumin