Messenger RNA stabilization in chicken lens development: a reexamination.

Previous studies, using actinomycin D, suggested that the rate of mRNA degradation in chicken embryo lens epithelial cells decreased sharply between Days 11 and 13 of development (Yoshida and Katoh, Exp. Eye Res. 11, 1971; Exp. Cell Res. 71, 1972). We repeated these studies and directly measured the effects of actinomycin on lens mRNAs. Although actinomycin decreased [3H]uridine incorporation greater than 90%, only modest decreases in methionine incorporation were detected. Treatment for 6 hr had no detectable effect on delta-crystallin mRNA levels or on the relative amounts of proteins synthesized in an in vitro translation system. Unlike the previous studies, we did not find significant changes in the stability of lens epithelial mRNAs during development.