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Developmentally regulated primary glucocorticoid hormone induction of chick retinal glutamine synthetase mRNA
Author(s) -
Patejunas Gerald,
Young Anthony P.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.240350304
Subject(s) - glutamine synthetase , glucocorticoid , hormone , glutamine , messenger rna , retinal , biology , chemistry , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , gene , amino acid
We have characterized the glucocorticoid hormone induction of glutamine synthetase mRNA in embryonic chick retinal organ cultures by quantitative dot hybridization using a cDNA clone derived from chick retinal RNA. Hydrocortisone (K app = 3–4 nM) and dexamethasone (K app = 1–2 nM) produce an approximate 30‐fold increase in glutamine synthetase mRNA after incubation of organ cultures derived from embryonic day 12 retinae with either hormone for 3 hr. Progesterone is a poor inducer. The glucocorticoid‐mediated rise is rapid (t ½ = 2–3 hr) and occurs in the presence of either of the protein synthesis inhibitors cycloheximide or puromycin, indicating that the induction is a primary or direct response to the hormone. However, the magnitude of the hormonal response observed in culture increases markedly during retinal development. These observations, coupled with the previously reported absence of a hormonal induction in embryonic liver, raise the possibility of a synergistic mechanism, involving tissue‐specific regulatory molecules in addition to the glucocorticoid hormone receptor, to explain the retinal‐specific primary glucocorticoid hormone induction of glutamine synthetase mRNA.