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Evidence for an extranucleolar mechanism of actinomycin D action

Nature volume 263, pages 347–350 (1976)Cite this article

Abstract

SINCE the original observation of Perry1 that a low concentration of actinomycin D (0.04 μg ml−1) selectively inhibits ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis in vivo, this concentration of drug has been used by numerous investigators to selectively inhibit the synthesis of rRNA in cells in culture. Since nucleolar ribosomal DNA contains a high amount of deoxyguanosine and deoxycytosine bases2 and actinomycin D selectively binds to deoxyguanosine3, it has been thought that actinomycin D preferentially binds to nucleolar DNA to inhibit the transcription of 45S ribosomal RNA precursor.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, 85724

    THOMAS J. LINDELL

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LINDELL, T. Evidence for an extranucleolar mechanism of actinomycin D action. Nature 263, 347–350 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263347a0

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