Effect of sedimentation through sucrose solutions on the protein-synthesizing ability of rat liver microsomes.

1. Centrifugation of the postmitochondrial supernatant of rat liver through 1.0m-sucrose produces particles that have 85-95% less incorporating ability in a cell-free protein-synthesizing system than either ribosomes or microsomes. 2. The incorporation of [(14)C]phenylalanine into protein by particles prepared by sedimentation through 1.0m-sucrose is stimulated about 20-fold by addition of poly U. 3. The content of rapidly labelled RNA of microsomes is decreased during centrifugation through 1.0m-sucrose. 4. It is suggested that degradation of mRNA occurs during the formation of the pellet in the centrifuge tube as a result of a membrane-bound alkaline ribonuclease, after removal of the ribonuclease inhibitor of the soluble fraction.