Regulation of mammalian protein synthesis in vivo. Stimulated protein synthesis in liver in vivo after cycloheximide treatment.

Protein synthesis in rat liver in vivo was measured between 0 and 72 h after administration of a non-lethal dose of cycloheximide. There was a period of inhibition of [3H]leucine incorporation into both intra- and extra-cellular proteins at 2 h after administration of the drug, which was followed by a recovery phase in which amino acid incorporation varied significantly among the various proteins evaluated. At 12 h there was a marked stimulation of incorporation into nascent polypeptides released from polyribosomes and plasma fibrinogen, but incorporation into ribosomal proteins as well as albumin was still inhibited. Between 12 and 48 h, nascent-polypeptide synthesis remained elevated, but ribosomal-protein synthesis recovered slowly from the inhibition to normal rates only, and plasma-albumin synthesis increased slowly to above control values up to 48 h before returning to normal. A differential pattern of incorporation was also observed for incorporation into free and membrane-bound polyribosomes.