The action of corticotropin (ACTH) on nucleic acids and subcellular elements of the adrenal cortex.

It was shown experimentally that ACTH causes an increase of cytoplasmic RNA and subcellular granules of the adrenal cortex shortly after administration. This effect was found to be concentrated primarily on the basophilic cytoplasmic granules and to be largely independent of cell division. The increase of nuclear RNA, DNA, and nuclear mass followed that of the cytoplasm. The observations indicate also that the mass increase of mitochondrial and chromidial systems is closely related to the increase in cytoplasmic, largely chromidial RNA.