Rate of synthesis of βL-lipovitellin in the liver of immature chicks treated with 17β estradiol

Using a combination of radioimmunoprecipitation and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the immunoprecipitate we studied the rate of synthesis of the heavy chain of β-lipovitellin in the liver of immature chicks. In male and female chicks the base-line synthesis of β_L-lipovitellin¹ was about 30 molecules per minute and per cell. Four days after a single injection of 40 mg estradiol/kg, as many as 48,000 molecules of β_L-lipovitellin were synthesized per minute and per diploid liver cell. The increase in the rate of β_L-lipovitellin synthesis could be correlated with an increase in membrane bound mRNA coding for β_L-lipovitellin.