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Effects of Diethylstilbestrol on Hybridizability of Mouse Testicular RNA¹

Eleanor Roosevelt Cancer Foundation Research Institute, Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah College of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 [K. K., A. B., L. T. S.], and the American Medical Center, Denver, Colorado 80214 [R. A. H.]

Cytoplasmic RNA's (cyt RNA's) were prepared from cryptorchid testes of BALB/c mice after treatment with diethylstilbestrol (DES) for 3 days and 10, 22, 26, and 28 weeks. Testes of this strain show a "spurt" in DNA synthesis within 3 days after beginning DES treatment and develop a high proportion of malignant interstitial cell tumors when treated with the estrogen for periods of 7 months or longer. Comparable preparations were made from untreated animals of similar ages. The cyt RNA's were then tested for their ability to complete against RNA-³H synthesized on mouse DNA in vitro, using both "presaturation" and simultaneous hybridization techniques. The preparations from the DES-treated animals always competed better than the equivalent controls. The difference was greater after long periods of treatment.

Cyt RNA's from cryptorchid testes of DES-treated C3H_B1 x A_B1 F₁ mice treated for 3 days with DES did not show any increase in competitive ability over untreated controls. This strain develops relatively few Leydig cell tumors after a much longer period of estrogen treatment and does not exhibit an early "spurt" in DNA synthesis in the interstitium. Preparations of cyt RNA from the livers of BALB/c mice treated with DES also did not compete better than similar preparations from livers of untreated controls. There appears to be a correlation between the DNA "spurt" in the interstitial cells, the tendency to develop Leydig cell tumors, and the increased ability of components of testicular cyt RNA's to compete for sites on mouse DNA.

¹ Supported by USPHS Research Grants CA-10935 and CA-05191 from the National Cancer Institute, by Grant P-174 from the American Cancer Society, Inc., and by a grant from the Ruth Estrin Goldberg Memorial for Cancer Research.

² Present address: Department of Pathology, Medical School Osaka. University, 33 Joancho, Kitaku, Osaka, Japan.

³ To whom request for reprints should be addressed.

Received 10/25/72. Accepted 3/ 5/73.