Poly(adenylic acid) in small amounts, free or covalently linked to substrate, protects RNA from hydrolysis by ribonuclease.

Short lengths (18 residues) of poly(A), covalently linked to the 3'-termini of Escherichia coli 5 S rRNA, induce powerful inhibitions (38-87%) of the activities of RNAases (ribonucleases) from Citrobacter sp., Enterobacter sp., bovine pancreas, human spleen and human plasma. As the polypurine chain length is extended, enzyme activity declines. Furthermore, poly(A) sequences, present only on a small subpopulation of RNA, and accounting for less than 1% of total RNA, serve to protect all RNA, polyadenylated or not, from enzyme-catalysed degradation. The quantity of 3'-terminal adenylic acid residues, relative to the amount of substrate, determines enzyme activity. The exact distribution of a fixed amount of poly(A) residues on the 3'-termini of substrate molecules is unimportant in this respect. Comparison of the efficacies of inhibition of RNAase activity, by using linked poly(A) and similar quantities of free poly(A), revealed that although the free polypurine inhibits RNAase activity, covalent linkage of poly(A) to RNA is more advantageous to the stability of an RNA substrate. However, the ratio of inhibited activities obtained by using linked or free poly(A) may change considerably with alterations in either substrate concentration or polyadenylic acid segment length.