Post-transcriptional control of the onset of DNA synthesis by an insulin-like growth factor.

The control of eucaryotic cell proliferation is governed largely by a series of regulatory events which occur in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. When stimulated to proliferate, quiescent (G0) 3T3 fibroblasts require transcription, rapid translation, and three growth factors for the growth state transition. We examined exponentially growing 3T3 cells to relate the requirements for G1 transit to those necessary for the transition from the G0 to the S phase. Cycling cells in the G1 phase required transcription, rapid translation, and a single growth factor (insulin-like growth factor [IGF] I) to initiate DNA synthesis. IGF I acted post-transcriptionally at a late G1 step. All cells in the G1 phase entered the S phase on schedule if either insulin (hyperphysiological concentration) or IGF I (subnanomolar concentration) was provided as the sole growth factor. In medium lacking all growth factors, only cells within 2 to 3 h of the S phase were able to initiate DNA synthesis. Similarly, cells within 2 to 3 h of the S phase were less dependent on transcription and translation for entry into the S phase. Cells responded very differently to inhibited translation than to growth factor deprivation. Cells in the early and mid-G1 phases did not progress toward the S phase during transcriptional or translational inhibition, and during translational inhibition they actually regressed from the S phase. In the absence of growth factors, however, these cells continued progressing toward the S phase, but still required IGF at a terminal step before initiating DNA synthesis. We conclude that a suboptimal condition causes cells to either progress or regress in the cell cycle rather than freezing them at their initial position. By using synchronized cultures, we also show that in contrast to earlier events, this final, IGF-dependent step did not require new transcription. This result is in contrast to findings that other growth factors induce new transcription. We examined the requirements for G1 transit by using a chemically transformed 3T3 cell line (BPA31 cells) which has lost some but not all ability to regulate its growth. Early- and mid-G1-phase BPA31 cells required transcription and translation to initiate DNA synthesis, although they did not regress from the S phase during translational inhibition. However, these cells did not need IGF for entry into the S phase.