Abundance of hepatic metallothionein mRNA is increased by protein-synthesis inhibitors. Evidence for transcriptional activation and post-transcriptional regulation.

Ongoing protein synthesis is a prerequisite in the expression of some genes. We studied the effect of various protein synthesis inhibitors on the expression of the avian metallothionein (MT) gene. Chicken embryonic hepatocytes in culture were exposed to various concentrations of cycloheximide, puromycin and pactamycin. At concentrations which decreased total protein synthesis by about 90% each inhibitor increased MT mRNA accumulation approx. 5-fold at 9 h of incubation. Incubation with puromycin or zinc for 2 h markedly increased the rate of MT gene transcription. Estimates of the half-life of MT mRNA by using actinomycin D suggested for cycloheximide, but not puromycin, decreased the decay rate of MT mRNA. These data suggest the potential for post-transcriptional regulation of the avian MT gene. We conclude that different antibiotics increase the accumulation of hepatocyte MT mRNA by different mechanisms and that the possibility of multiple mechanisms should be considered in other studies of the role of protein synthesis in gene expression.