Poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis in nucleoli and ADP-ribosylation of nucleolar proteins in mouse ascites tumor cells in vitro.

Poly(ADP-ribose) synthetic activity in isolated nucleoli from rapidly growing mouse ascites tumor cells and ADP-ribosylation of the nucleolar proteins in vitro were studied. The specific activity of the synthesis in the nucleoli was significantly higher than that in the chromatin. The optimum magnesium and NAD+ concentrations, and the effect of RNase treatment on the reaction in the nucleoli were also distinctly different from those in the chromatin. Hydrolysis of the reaction product of the nucleoli with snake venom phosphodiesterase and with calf thymus poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase yielded 5'-AMP and 2'-(5"-phosphoribosyl))5'-AMP, and ADP-ribose, respectively. The average chain length of the polymer formed in the nucleoli was found to be about 4 as a whole, but the distribution was heterogenous, from 1.2 to over 12. Analysis of ADP-ribosylated proteins in the nucleoli by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate revealed that several non-histone proteins with molecular weights of over 100,000 were highly ADP-ribosylated compared with other proteins including histones. This pattern was also different from that of the chromatin. These experimental results demonstrate that the nucleoli are independent from the chromatin as regards poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis in vitro.