Isolation of free and membrane-bound polysomes and mRNA highly active in translation and reverse transcription from small discrete regions of rat brain

Abstract A procedure is described for the preparation of total polysomes, membrane-bound and free polysomes and polysomal mRNA from as little as 5 mg or less of brain tissue. These preparations were highly active when tested for translation and reverse transcription in vitro . Using this method, polysomes and mRNA from rat cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus and hypothalamus were compared. The results showed that membrane-bound polysomes were more active than free polysomes in protein synthesis. The activities of polysomes and mRNA for protein and cDNA synthesis were dependent on the specific brain structures from which they were obtained. Polysomes from cerebellum and hypothalamus incorporated amino acids more actively than those from cerebral cortex or hippocampus, when tested in a reticulocyte lysate system. Cerebellar mRNA also showed the highest activity for cDNA syntehsis as compared to mRNAs from the other three tissues.