There have been many indications from earlier studies that ribonucleic acid’ is involved in protein synthesis, perhaps as the template for the formation of specific proteins (see Brachet (2) for a recent review). In studies on the mechanism of protein synthesis we have found that, when a C14amino acid is injected intravenously into a rat, the initial incorporation into the cytoplasmic ribonucle...

There is much support for the view that the functional unit of protein synthesis is an aggregate of ribosomes held together by a strand of messenger RNA.1-6 The concept derives from the observation that radioactive amino acids are preferentially incorporated into ribosomal aggregates (termed polyribosomes, polysomes, or ergosomes) and that treatment of the ribosomal aggregates with small amount...

Although much has been learned in recent years concerning amino acid incorporation into protein, the mechanism of the process has remained obscure. This is due partly to the complexity of the problem and partly to the lack of experimental systems sufficiently simple and free from extraneous reactions so that mechanism studies can be performed with confidence. The experiments of Littlefield and ...

There have been many indications from earlier studies that ribonucleic acid’ is involved in protein synthesis, perhaps as the template for the formation of specific proteins (see Brachet (2) for a recent review). In studies on the mechanism of protein synthesis we have found that, when a C14amino acid is injected intravenously into a rat, the initial incorporation into the cytoplasmic ribonucle...