Synthesis of Collagen‐Like Proteins in Embryonic Organs of the Sea Urchin, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus

Abstract

In sea urchin embryos exposed to ''C-proline at 20°C for 3 hr at the gastrula, prism or pluteus stage, 14C-radioactivity was found in hot acid-extractable proteins, in which more than 4% of the radioactivity was detectable in hydroxyproline residues. In these embryos, 14C-radioactivity in collagen-like proteins was found in the archenteron, spicule and embryo-wall cells. The rate of synthesis of collagen-like proteins was highest in the archenteron in the mid-gastrula stage, in the embryo-wall cells in the prism stage and in the spicule in the pluteus stage. The rate of synthesis decreased in the archenteron and increased in ernbryo-wall cells in the period between the mid-and late-gastrula stages, when the rate of synthesis in the spicule was quite low. Thereafter, the rate decreased slightly in the embryo-wall cells, was maintained in archenteron and increased markedly in the spicule. The rates of synthesis of collagen-like proteins are high in these embryonic organs at stages at which development and growth respectively, occur in embryos. Therefore, synthesis of collagen-like proteins probably supports morphogenesis in these embryonic organs.