ENHANCEMENT OF PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS WITH SODIUM-ION IN A CELL-FREE SYSTEM FROM ESCHERICHIA-COLI

We have previously shown that some types of synthetic zeolites can enh ance protein synthesis in a coupled cell-free transcription/translatio n system derived from Escherichia coli. As a result of efforts to eluc idate the mode of action of zeolite on protein synthesis, we found tha t enhancement mainly resulted from the ion exchange reaction induced b y the addition of the zeolite. Even in the absence of zeolite, the yie ld of protein synthesis in the cell-free system was markedly increased by replacing the potassium ion in the reaction mixture with sodium io n.