The synthesis of ninety proteins including actin throughout the HeLa cell cycle

Abstract

Abundant cytoplasmic proteins pulse-labeled with [35S]methionine at specific times throughout the HeLa cell cycle were analyzed with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. More than 300 proteins could be resolved in this way. The frequency of appearance of label in the most abundant 90 proteins, ranging from 4% to less than 0.1% of the total methionine incorporated, was determined at six time points in the cell cycle. 84 of these proteins were made as a similar proportion of the total at all times during the cell cycle. A nonmuscle actin protein (spot 1) identified by molecular weight and isoelectric point represented 2-4% of the total methionine incorporated at all the time points. Only six proteins were found which varied by greater than fourfold during cell division, four appearing to represent a greater proportion of the total synthesis during the period at or immediately surrounding M (spots 31b, 44, 53, and 70d). Two appear to represent a smaller percentage of total synthesis during the early (spot 78) or the total (spot 74) G2 period.