Release, identification, and isolation of messenger RNA from mammalian ribosomes.

The puromycin-induced dissociation, at high ionic strength, of active ribosomes from reticulocytes resulted in the release of protein-free, apparently undegraded, messenger RNA for globin, which was identified by centrifugation on a sucrose density gradient. This procedure should make messenger RNA from various cells available for isolation on a large scale, and has several advantages over procedures that use detergents or magnesium chelators.