Estradiol Effect on Type C Viral Gene Expression in the Uterus of the Ovariectomized Mouse

Summary

Kinetic studies using hybridization with complementary DNAs synthesized from high molecular weight type C viral RNAs showed that virus-specific sequences were among the earliest nonribosomal RNAs to accumulate in the mouse uterus after estrogen treatment. Following hormone administration to ovariectomized animals, significant increases above the low level of viral-specific RNA continuously present in the uterus were observed as early as 4 hr, with maximum levels at 8–16 hr. Subsequently, there was a decrease in the relative concentration of viral RNA. However, levels were still higher than basal at 24 hr, the last time point examined. The increase in viral RNA occurred before a detectable increase in protein synthesis, suggesting that this viral-specific RNA was probably mRNA.

We thank Thomas Paisley and Carl Reed for excellent technical assistance with this study and Jean McCammon and Audrey Brammer for preparing the manuscript.