Translational control of ferritin synthesis by iron in embryonic reticulocytes of the bullfrog.

The regulation of ferritin synthesis by iron was examined in the reticulocytes of bullfrog tadpoles where the induction was 40- to 50-fold, increasing from 0.17 +/- 0.05% of total protein synthesis ([3H]leucine incorporation in cell suspension) to 7.4 +/- 1.6% following intraperitoneal injection of ferric ammonium citrate. No significant difference was observed between the levels of ferritin mRNA in control or iron-induced cells, determined by translation of isolated mRNA in a wheat germ system, demonstrating that ferritin induction by iron occurs by a post-transcriptional mechanism. Total protein synthesis in the wheat germ system was half-saturating at 10 micrograms of mRNA/ml whereas ferritin synthesis increased linearly up to 40 micrograms of mRNA/ml, demonstrating that the ferritin mRNA is translated with high efficiency relative to the total proteins synthesized. Studies with the cap analogue 7-methylguanosine-5'-monophosphate, suggest that cap binding is not directly involved in the high translational efficiency of the ferritin mRNA in the wheat germ system. The results indicate that iron-modulated changes in the availability of ferritin mRNA for translation, coupled with the high translational efficiency of the ferritin message, can account for the induction of ferritin synthesis by iron in embryonic erythroid cells.