Size of the polyadenylic acid region of newly synthesized globin messenger ribonucleic acid.

The size of the polyadenylic acid region of newly synthesized globin mRNA was determined on mRNA isolated from nucleated erythroid spleen cells of anemic mice. The globin mRNA was purified by a combination of affinity chromatography on oligodeoxythymidylate-cellulose (oligo-(dT)-cellulose) and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The purified RNA was shown to be globin mRNA by virtue of its ability to direct the synthesis of mouse alpha- and beta-globin chains in a cell-free system and by the presence of two bands migrating identically with authentic mouse alpha- and beta-globin mRNA when subjected to electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels in the presence of formamide. When labeled for 1 hour with [3H]adenosine, the newly synthesized radioactive mRNA also migrated as two bands in these gels but they moved slower than the main bands suggesting that they have higher molecular weights. The polyadenylic acid region of the mRNA was isolated from the T1 and pancreatic RNase digestion mixture by acrylamide sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. The polyadenylic acid region was found to contain approximately 150 adenylate residues. As it is known that globin mRNA isolated from reticulocytes contains only 40 to 60 residues, it follows that at least 150 adenylic acid residues are added to the globin mRNA soon after its synthesis and that some of these are removed during the subsequent maturation of the erythroid cell.