Influence of Synchronized Sleep on the Biosynthesis of RNA in Two Nuclear Classes Isolated from Rabbit Cerebral Cortex

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Abstract
The biosynthesis of RNA during sleep was studied in 2 purified nuclear fractions separated from rabbit cerebral cortex after subarachnoidal injection of radioactive orotate. The biochemical parameters were referred to the percent EEG synchronization recorded during the period of incorporation (1 h). The content of radioactive RNA per nucleus increased significantly with percent synchronization in the fraction of large nuclei (of neuronal and astroglial origin). Sedimentation and electrophoretic analyses of this RNA were consistent with an enhanced turnover of rRNA during wakefulness; the accumulation of labeled RNA during sleep may be due to a modified turnover of nuclear heterogeneous RNA. In the fraction of small nuclei (mostly of oligodendroglial origin) the content of radioactive RNA per nucleus and the pattern of sedimentation of labeled RNA showed no dependence on the electrical state of the cortex. In the cerebral cortex the sleep-wakefulness transition apparently is accompanied by a differential cellular response in RNA turnover.