Steroid Hormone Induction of a Specific Translatable Messenger RNA

Abstract

Until recently, it has not been possible unequivocally to demonstrate that steroid hormones induce increases in the quantity of mRNA in animal cells; proof would require the isolation of a specific mRNA, its unambiguous translation, and the demonstration that the intracellular concentration of this specific mRNA in target tissue is strictly dependent on the state of hormonal stimulation. Here we report studies of progesterone-mediated induction of mRNA in the chick oviduct. In this tissue, both oestrogen and progesterone selectively induce the synthesis of distinct proteins^1–10. Progesterone induces de novo synthesis of the specific protein avidin in oestrogen-primed oviduct and the specificity and kinetics of induction of this protein have been investigated^1,2,11–14. We have shown that progesterone causes major quantitative and qualitative alterations in oviduct gene transcription^1,12,15,16, but this is only indirect evidence that any progesterone-mediated change in specific mRNAs occurs in oviduct target cells. We wished to test directly the production of a specific mRNA as the result of progesterone administration.