Physicochemical characters of a ribonucleoprotein fragment extracted from rat brain, and their modification due to either environmental or chemical influence

Abstract

A soluble, homogeneous ribonucleoprotein (RNP) fragment was extracted from rat brain. The chemical structure and the conformation of this fragment were affected by environmental conditions or by the administration of lysergic acid diethylamidie (LSD). Rats raised for one month in permanent light or darkness showed a difference in RNP conformation; also, the treatment with LSD yielded an RNP conformation different from the control. The RNP fragment has a protein-RNA ratio which differs either with environment or with chemical treatment. The molecular weight of RNP was approx. 31 000 and its thermal hysteresis, circular dichroism and permanent polarization seem influenced by environmental differences. A chemical interaction between LSD and RNP was shown in vitro which might partially explain what is observed on the RNP extracted after treatment with LSD