Eukaryotic elongation factor-2 (eEF-2) activity in bovine mammary tissue in relation to milk protein synthesis

The amount of protein synthesis translational elongation factor 2 (eEF-2) was estimated employing diphtheria toxin-dependent ADP-ribosylation in samples prepared from small amounts of tissue from mammary gland, skeletal muscle and liver from lactating dairy cows. A very high level of ADP-ribosylatable eEF-2 was found in mammary gland, amounting to 20-times the level found in liver and 50-times the level found m skeletal muscle. This obviously reflects the high protein synthesis activity in mammary tissue. To our knowledge. similar high activities have previously been reported only for cancer cells. A close linear relationship was found between the amount of diphtheria-toxin catalysed ADP-ribosylated eEF-2 and protein and casein output in milk from cows in late lactation. This strongly suggests that eEF-2 may be a limiting factor in milk protein synthesis.