Nucleo-cytoplasmic exchange of non-histone proteins in amphibian embryos.

Abstract As a basis for understanding the role of non-histone proteins in nuclear differentiation, we have identified one period during embryogenesis when intense accumulation of non-histones occurs in nuclei of Rana pipiens . We then demonstrated, experimentally, the loss of non-histones from nuclei after transplantation into enucleated eggs. 3 H-tryptophan or 3 H-lysine was injected into blastocoeles of mid-blastulae and into archenterons of late gastrulae; embryos were subsequently studied autoradiographically. Nuclei of animal hemisphere cells from blastulae accumulated only small amounts of 3 H-tryptophan within 3 h, whereas a large accumulation occurred in endodermal nuclei of gastrulae as early as 1 h, and after 3 h 95.9% ( x ) of the nuclei were densely labelled. Significant accumulation of 3 H-lysine occurred in the majority of nuclei of both types within 3 h (blastulae x = 77.5% ; gastrulae x = 54.8% ). Controls, involving RNase or boiling TCA, demonstrated that the 3 H-amino acids have been incorporated mainly into proteins. Endodermal nuclei labelled either with 3 H-tryptophan or 3 H-lysine after a 3 h incubation were transplanted singly into enucleated eggs. Autoradiograms demonstrated that most non-histones leave the nucleus during its reprogramming in the egg cytoplasm prior to first cleavage; whereas other types of proteins labelled with 3 H-lysine remain for the most part in the nucleus. Cytochemical studies indicated that some of the non-histones which leave transplanted nuclei are acidic proteins; whereas some of those proteins which remain in the nucleus are histones. In addition to the above findings, the results of these studies demonstrate the feasibility in the future of studying the nucleocytoplasmic migration of different kinds of macromolecules in a developmental metazoan system and determining their roles in the establishment of nuclear differentiation.