Stimulation of transcription and translation by aurin tricarboxylic acid in mitochondrial lysates from Ehrlich ascites cells

Abstract

We have prepared a submitochondrial fraction from Ehrlich ascites tumor cell mitochondria which shows transcription and translation activities. The antibiotic aurin tricarboxylic acid (ATA) at low concentrations induces both RNA and protein synthetic activities of the mitochondrial lysate by several fold. At high concentrations, however, ATA inhibits the translation activity but continues to stimulate the transcription activity in a dose dependent manner up to 0.5 mM concentration tested. The lysate system transcribes endogenous DNA yielding RNA species resembling control mitochondrial RNA and synthesizes authentic cytochrome oxydase I and cytochrome oxidase II subunits.