Preface:
List of Participants:
Table of Contents:
1. RNA metabolism in developing embryos and organs:
2. RNA programmed protein synthesis in cell-free systems:
3. RNA effects on in vitro synthesis of specific proteins:
4. Transfer of tissue specificity:
5. Nucleic acid-induced changes in living systems:
6. Mechanism of RNA action:
Links:
Feedback:

Preface

Serious pursuit of the function of RNA in living cells first began in the late nineteen-thirties when ultraviolet microspectrophotometry was introduced for the study of intracellular localization of RNA. The early observations led Caspersson to conclude that embryonic cells and other fast growing cells, including microorganisms, are rich in RNA, which presumably plays some direct role in the growth process. When an abundance of RNA-containing particles was demonstrated cytochemically in the chordamesoderm of the amphibian gastrula, a role in development was suggested for this substance. As gastrulation progresses, the RNA particles gradually decrease in the invaginated chordamesoderm and concomitantly increase in the overlying ectoderm. Brachet proposed that this apparent transfer of RNA particles is causally related to the differentiation of the ectoderm into the central nervous system. Thus, RNA appeared to be involved in the two primary aspects of development - growth and differentiation, processes particularly characterized by the synthesis of new protein.

Subsequently, in the 1940s and early 1950s, cytochemists and geneticists amassed a body of qualitative evidence that correlated RNA and protein synthesis. With the introduction of more specific chemical methods for detection and measurement of RNA, quantitative data emerged. As a result of the accelerating pace of work during this period, it was established that RNA synthesis is linked to protein synthesis in a time sequence, with the former preceding the latter.

At the same time developmental biologists who were studying the nature of embryonic inductor substances discovered the importance of RNA in connection with the classical embryonic "organizer" phenomenon. For example, one of us (Niu) found that muscle differentiation occurs in a medium conditioned by developing myoblasts under conditions that suggest that released RNA carries the muscle information and can induce ectodermal differentiation into muscle cells.

Parallel to the study of RNA as an inducer, biochemical analysis of tobacco mosaic virus was climaxed in 1966 by the experiment of Gierer and Schramm showing that the RNA isolate from tobacco mosaic virus by a very mild procedure (treatment with phenol) is infectious. When such isolated RNA enters into tobacco leaves, it not only reproduces itself but also synthesizes the viral protein components, thus yielding whole virus of the strain from which the RNA was initially isolated. Fraenkel-Conrat confirmed this role of RNA by using reconstituted virus particles in which RNA from one strain was encapsulated in the protein of another. He found that the lesions produced by the "hybrid" viral particles were characteristic of the strain from which the RNA was isolated; moreover, the progeny of the "hybrid" virus was composed of both the protein and the RNA characteristic of the RNA donor strain.

By the end of the 1950s the concept of messenger RNA emerged, and Jacob and Monod proposed a model for gene regulation based on operon gene control of structural genes. Activation of a structural gene by its operon results in transcription of the gene into newly formed messenger RNA. The new RNA migrates into cytoplasm and there acts as a template for protein synthesis. By 1961, synthetic polynucleotides were being used to study RNA-programmed synthesis of specific proteins in vitro. Polyuridylic acid was used in a cell-free system by Nirenberg and found to give rise to the synthesis of polyphenylalanine. Extensive studies of this kind led to elucidation of the genetic code.

During the past decade, the focus of research on the function of RNA has again enlarged from in vitro systems to include higher biological levels of organization. The intense research efforts devoted to this subject coupled with the advent of several fundamental improvements in research methodology has led the search into diverse areas of biological investigation, many of which bear directly on reproductive physiology and development. They include RNA metabolism at organ and organismic levels; RNA-induced in vitro and in vivo syntheses of specific proteins; RNA-mediated transfer of biological phenomena, e.g. immunity and hormone action; and RNA-induced genetic changes and the "control" functions at the level of the genome.

Although research in these areas has progressed very rapidly and fruitfully, the accumulating body of information has not been assembled in one volume, nor have the active workers in the field been brought together for discussion and exchange of ideas. To meet this need we decided to organize an international symposium entitled "The role of RNA in reproduction and development". The meeting was organized under the auspices of The Division of Developmental Biology, American Society of Zoologists. Scientists from eleven countries contributed to the symposium, which was held in conjunction with the annual meetings of The American Association for The Advancement of Science, December 28-30, 1972, in Washington, D.C.

This symposium was supported by grant (No. HD-07247-01) from the Research Grant Division, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesdaa, Maryland. We are grateful to all who have assisted in making both the symposium and this volume possible.

March 1973

M.C. Niu
S.J.Segal 

Vincent G. Allfrey
The Rockefeller Univesity, New York, New York 10021

Mirko Beljanski
Institut Pasteur, 25, Rue de Docteur Roux, Paris, XV^e, France

James Bonner
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology, Pasadena, California, 91109

Mario Burgos
University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Richard Croissant
Department of Biochemistry, USC School of Dentistry, 925 W. 34th Street. Los Angeles, California, 90007

A. K. Deshpande
Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122

N. Dupont
Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, The Free University of Brussels, 115, Boulevard de Waterloo, Brussels, 1-Belgium.

Audrey Evans
Department of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

J.-E. Edstrom
Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, S-104 01 Stockholm, Sweden

Marvin Fishman
Public Health Research Institute, New York, New York 10016

R.A. Flickinger
Department of Biology, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214

John H. Frenster
Division of Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305

P. Galand
Biology Group Institut de Recherce Interdisciplinaire en Biologie Humaine et Nucleaire (LMN) Faculty of Medicine, Free University, Brussels, Belgium

A.W. Galston
Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

Ajit Goswami
Boston Hospital for Women, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 02115

Paul R. Gross
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 14627

J.B. Gurdon
Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, England

Paul R. Herstein
Division of Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305

David S. Holmes
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology, Pasadena, Calif. 91109

Rufus Ige
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

C.-Y. Kang
McArdle Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 53706

R. Kaur-Sawhney
Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

J.S. Knowland
Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, England

S.S. Koide
The Population Council, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

N.C. Kostraba
Biology Department, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214

R.A. Laskey
Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Linoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX England

Phlip Leder
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Barry E. Ledford
Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak ridge, Tennessee

H. Lee
Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey

N.C. Mishra
The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

Jui-yun Mu
Department of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

Marshall Nirenberg
National Heart and Lung Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

L.C. Niu
Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122

M.C. Niu,
Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122

Raphael Palacios
Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University, Stanford California 94305

John Papaconstaninou
Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Michel Plaweck
Institut Pasteur, 25, Rue du Docteur Roux, Paris, XV ^e, France

Robert E. Rhoads
Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

Naoi Sasaki
Embryological Laboratory, Biology Dept., Kuyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Sheldon J. Segal
The Population Council, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

Robert T. Schimke
Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

Harold C. Slavkin
Department of Biochemistry, USC School of Dentistry, 925 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, Calif. 90007

Drew Sullivan
Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

G. Szabo
The Biology Institute, Medical University, Debrecen, Hungary

E.L. Tatum
The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

H.M. Temin
MacArdle Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Pentti Tuohimaa
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Claude A. Villee
Department of Biochemistry, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, Mass. 02115

Arthur H. Whiteley
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

S.F. Yang
Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 

First session: RNA metabolism in developing embryos and organs.
Chairman: Arthur Whiteley

Chairman's introduction

Gene transcription and gene expression during sea urchin development, by Paul R. Gross and Kenneth W. Gross

Unbalanced growth and cell determination in frog embryos, by Reed A. Flickinger

Ovalbumin mRNA, complementary DNA and hormone regulation in chick oviduct, by Robert T. Schimke, Robert E. Rhoads, Raphale Palacios andDrew Sullivan

Regulation of albumin synthesis in cultured mouse hepatoma cells, by John Papaconstaninou and Barry E. Ledford

Second session: RNA programmed protein synthesis in cell-free systems

Chairman: Philip Leder

RNA mediated protein synthesis, by R.C. Huang

Steroid Hormone induction of specific translatable mTNAs, by Gary Rosenfeld, A.R. Means and Bert W. O'Malley

Translation and reverse transcription of purified mRNA, by Philip Leder 

Chairman: Vincent G. Allfrey

Chairman's introduction

A hormone-controlled RNA fraction regulating enzyme development in plant cells, by R. Kaur-Sawhney and A.W. Galston

Effects of exogenous RNA on steroid metabolism in adrenals and gonads, by Dorothy B. Villee and Ajit Goswami

Thyrotropin-like activity of thyroid RNA in vitro, by Jui-yun Mu

In vivo uptake of RNA and its function in castrate uterus, by M.C. Niu, L.C. Niu, and S.F. Yang

Injection of messenger RNA into living cells and its application to the study of gene action in Xenopus Laevis, by John S. Knowland, John B. Gurdon and R.A. Laskey

Fourth session: Transfer of Tissue Specificity

Chairman: Sheldon J. Segal

Chairman's introduction

The role of macrophage RNA in the immune response, by Marvin Fishman

Studies on the biological potentiality of testis-RNA. Induction of axial structures in whole and excised chick blastoderms, by H. Lee and M.C. Niu

Biological activity of RNA from estrogen-stimulated uterus, by Paul Galand and N. Dupont

Effects of exogenous polynucleotides on uterine enzymes, by Claude A. Villee

The role of RNA in the differentiation of presumptive ectoderm from urodele embryos, by Naoi Sasaki and M.C. Niu

Fifth session: Nucleic acid-induced changes in living systems

Chairman: Marshall Nirenberg

Transforming RNA as a template directing RNA and DNA synthesis in bacteria, by M. Beljansky and M. Plawecki

RNA mediated transformation in Pneumococcus, by Audrey Evans

Requirement of informational molecules in heart formation, by Amrut K. Deshpande, L.C. Niu and M.C. Niu

Intercellular communication during odontogenic epithelial-mesenchymal interactions: isolation of matrix vesicles containing RNA, by Harold C. Slavkin and Richard Croissant

Nucleic Acid-induced changes in Neuospora, by Nawin C. Mishra, G. Szabo and Edward L. Tatum

Specific and heterospecific transfer of hormone action action by mRNA, by Sheldon J. Segal, R. Ige, M. Burgos, P. Tuohimaa and S.S. Kohle 

Chairman: M.C. Niu

Chairman's Introduction

Appearance and decay of ribonucleic acids in the cytoplasm of salivary gland cells of chironomus tentans, by J.-E. Edstrom

Sequence composition and organization of the genome and of the nuclear RNA of higher organisms : an approach to understanding gene action, by David S. Holmes and James Bonner

Nonhistone proteins as gene derepressor molecules, by T.Y. Wang and N.C. Kostraba

RNA in gene de-repression, by John H. Frenster and Paul R. Herstein

RNA-directed DNA synthesis in viruses and normal cells: a possible mechanism in differentiation, by C.-Y. Kang and Howard M. Temin 

1. Mishra MC, Niu MC, and Tatum EL, "Induction by RNA of Inositol Independence in Neurospora crassa",
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 72: 642-645 (February, 1975).

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