Sensitivity of Polysomes To Endonucleolytic Cleavage in Relation With Aging in Bovine Lens Fiber Cells

Polysomes have been prepared from calf and adult cortical fiber cells and incubated in vitro with pancreatic RNase in order to investigate the effects of cellular aging on the intrinsic stability of the protein synthesis machinery. The extent of inter-ribosomal mRNA cleavage has been measured as a function of either incubation time or enzyme concentration. Our results demonstrate that the affinity between the nuclease and the mRNA is identical in both age groups, as well as the number of interribosomal bonds actually cleavable by the enzyme.