Mescaline-induced changes of brain-cortex ribosomes. Role of spermidine in counteracting the destabilizing effect of mescaline on brain-cortex ribosomes |
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| Authors: | R. K. Datta W. Antopol J. J. Ghosh |
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| Affiliation: | Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, N.Y. 10003, U.S.A., Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, New York, N.Y. 10029, U.S.A., and University College of Sciences, Calcutta University, Calcutta 19, India |
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| Abstract: | 1. The effect of spermidine on the mescaline-induced changes of brain-cortex ribosomes was studied by adding spermidine during the treatment of goat brain-cortex slices with mescaline. 2. Mescaline treatment of brain-cortex slices removed a portion of the endogenous spermidine from ribosomes and this removal was significantly prevented when spermidine was present during mescaline treatment. 3. Spermidine present during mescaline treatment of brain-cortex slices counteracted, to some extent, the destabilizing effect of mescaline on ribosomes with respect to heat denaturation. 4. Mescaline treatment of brain-cortex slices made ribosomes more susceptible to breakdown, releasing protein and RNA, and resulting in loss of ribosomal enzymic activities. However, spermidine present during mescaline treatment counteracted moderately the mescaline-induced ribosomal susceptibility to breakdown and ribosomal loss of enzymic activities. 5. Ribosomes of mescaline-treated cortex slices were rapidly degraded by ribonuclease and trypsin. However, if spermidine was present during mescaline treatment of brain-cortex slices the rates of degradation diminished. |
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