title: Bleomycin treatment of chick fibroblasts causes an increase of polysomal type I procollagen mRNAs. Reversal of the bleomycin effect by dexamethasone.
abstract: Bleomycin treatment of primary chick skin fibroblasts and chick lung fibroblasts resulted in a selective dose-dependent increase of cell layer procollagen synthesis. Solid support hybridization of total cellular RNA to 32P-labeled pro-alpha 1(I) and pro-alpha 2(I) cDNAs did not indicate an increase of total cellular procollagen type I mRNAs in bleomycin-treated cells. However, bleomycin treatment of chick skin fibroblasts causes a redistribution of procollagen type I mRNAs within the nuclear, cytoplasmic, and polysomal subcellular fractions. Both the nuclear and cytoplasmic procollagen type I mRNAs are significantly decreased in concentration after bleomycin administration. In contrast, the polysomal procollagen type I mRNAs are significantly increased in both chick skin and lung fibroblasts treated with bleomycin. Administration of dexamethasone to bleomycin-treated fibroblasts resulted in a reversal of the bleomycin-induced increase in cell layer procollagen synthesis. The increased amounts of polysomal procollagen type I mRNAs in bleomycin-treated cells were also reduced by subsequent administration of dexamethasone. These data indicate that bleomycin treatment of chick skin and chick lung fibroblasts results in a specific increase in procollagen synthesis in the cell layer which is mediated by elevated levels of polysomal type I procollagen mRNAs via a repartitioning of these mRNAs within the fibroblast. Furthermore, dexamethasone reverses the bleomycin-induced elevations of both cell layer procollagen synthesis and polysomal type I procollagen mRNAs.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology; D011132:Polyribosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011347:Procollagen / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D011347:Procollagen; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D001761:Bleomycin; D003907:Dexamethasone