Regulation or procollagen messenger ribonucleic acid levels in Rous sarcoma virus transformed chick embryo fibroblasts.

Using cloned cDNAs for pro-alpha 1 and pro-alpha 2 collagen messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), we have investigated the regulation of collagen mRNA levels in Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) transformed chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF). We find that both pro-alpha 1 and pro-alpha 2 mRNA levels are decreased approximately 10-fold in CEF transformed by either the Bryan high-titer strain or the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of RSV. Using temperature-sensitive mutants in the transforming gene src, we also investigated the rate of change in the levels of the two mRNA species. We employed mutants of both the Bryan high-titre strain (BHTa) and the Schmidt-Ruppin strain (ts68). With both mutants the results were similar. Upon shift from the permissive temperature (35 degrees C) to the non-permissive temperature (41 degrees C), collagen mRNA synthesis, did not increase until more than 5 h had passed, suggesting that action of src on collagen gene expression is indirect. Upon shift from 41 to 35 degrees C, collagen mRNA levels fell with a half-life of 10 h. Whether this fall reflects the half-life of procollagen mRNA or an effect of src on procollagen RNA stability is unclear. Both pro-alpha 1 and pro-alpha 2 mRNA levels were coordinately controlled.