Induced synthesis of immunoglobulin messenger RNA accompanies induction of immunoglobulin production in cultured mouse spleen cells.

Immunoglobulin kappa type light chain mRNA (Lkappa mRNA) accumulated in parallel with secretion of immunoglobulin M in cultured mouse spleen cells activated by lipopolysaccharide. Actinomycin D suppressed the accumulation of kappa chain mRNA completely without affecting the degradation rate of kappa chain mRNA. The half life of kappa chain mRNA was about 9 h. Available evidence indicates that lipopolysaccharide stimulates de novo synthesis of kappa chain mRNA. The accumulation of kappa chain mRNA was markedly suppressed by inhibitors of DNA or protein synthesis such as hydroxyurea, cytosine arabinoside and cycloheximide.