Translation of avidin mRNA from chick oviduct in the oestrous mouse uterus

Oestrogen-primed immature chicks were injected with 5.0 mg of progesterone. Twenty hours after, progesterone avidin mRNA was isolated and purified by a method including an antibody precipitation of the avidin polysomes, phenol extraction and nitrocellulose trapping. A water solution of mRNA (1 μg) with [14C]amino acids was instilled into the uterine horn of oestrous or dioestrous mice. Saline and [14C]amino acids were injected into the opposite control uterine horn. Avidin was assayed by an antibody method. A clear-cut avidin synthesis was found in the oestrous uterus, whereas the dioestrous showed only a slight avidin synthesis. This suggests that there are no absolute species-specific factors required at the translational level of uterine protein synthesis and that the mammalian uterus can translate foreign hormone-specific proteins at a rate dependent on the endogenous protein synthesis. (author)