Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 January 2017
Analysis of the effects of amino acid starvation in reticulocytes iscomparatively simple compared with similar analysis in other tissues ofwhole organisms. This is mainly because of the absence of RNA synthesis inreticulocytes, but also because the bulk of the protein being synthesized ishaemoglobin, a protein whose structure is completely known. The absence ofRNA synthesis eliminates complications that would otherwise arise throughRNA-mediated control mechanisms which in turn might mask the effects ofamino acid starvation on the protein synthetic machinery in the cells(Munro, 1969). Consequently reticulocytes have been used to study the effectof amino acid starvation on the actual process of protein synthesis andassembly.