Nucleolar changes in liver before the onset of deoxyribonucleic acid replication.

A mixture of chemicals was previously devised (3, 3', 5'-triiodo-L-thyronine, amino acids, a butyryl derivative of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate, theophylline, and heparin) that induces nuclear DNA replication in the liver of the unoperated rat (Short, J., Tsukada, K., Rudert, W.A. 7 Lieberman, I. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3602-3606). The stimulation of DNA synthesis with the complete solution is greater than the sum of the responses to the thyroid hormone alone and to a mixture of the remaining components of the inductive solution alone. The effects of the complete mixture and of parts of it on three parameters involving the hepatocyte nucleolus have now been examined in intact animals. The complete solution increases the level of RNA polymerase I (measured with isolated nuclei), the rate of ribosome synthesis, and the total volume of nucleoli per nucleus. Nucleolar hypertrophy is unique among the three changes in showing a requirement, just as for DNA synthesis, for all or almost all of the components of the complete mixture, including the thyroid hormone, for a maximal effect. Enlargement of nucleoli is detectable as early as 2 hours after the start of treatment with the complete mixture and a large proportion of the total hepatocyte population is involved. Hypertrophy is accompanied by an increase in nucleolar RNA content. N2-Monobutyryl cyclic guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate is not able to substitute for the cyclic adenine nucleotide.