Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1988 Mar 15;250(3):647–651. doi: 10.1042/bj2500647

Testosterone induces the expression of the uteroglobin gene in rabbit epididymis.

M S López de Haro 1, L Alvarez 1, A Nieto 1
PMCID: PMC1148907  PMID: 2455506

Abstract

Uteroglobin was characterized in the rabbit epididymis by radioimmunoassay and electrophoretic determinations, as well as by analysis of its mRNA by means of 'Northern blot' and nuclease-S1 mapping. Treatment of sexually immature rabbits with testosterone during 5 days increased up to 8-fold the concentrations of both uteroglobin and its mRNA in the epididymis. The amounts of beta-tubulin mRNA, measured as reference, remained unchanged after the hormonal treatment. The synthesis of uteroglobin occurred mainly in the middle region of the epididymis, progressively decreasing toward the distal part of the organ. Uteroglobin was not detected in the testis by radioimmunoassay. The results are discussed in relation to a possible role of uteroglobin in the reproductive functions.

Full text

PDF
647

Images in this article

649Fig. 2.
on p.649
649Fig. 3.
on p.649

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arnemann J., Heins B., Beato M. Purification and properties of rabbit uterus preuteroglobin mRNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1977 Nov;4(11):4023–4036. doi: 10.1093/nar/4.11.4023. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Atger M., Milgrom E. Progesterone-induced messenger RNA. Translation, purification, and preliminary characterization of uteroglobin mRNA. J Biol Chem. 1977 Aug 10;252(15):5412–5418. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Aumüller G., Seitz J., Heyns W., Kirchner C. Ultrastructural localization of uteroglobin immunoreactivity in rabbit lung and endometrium, and rat ventral prostate. Histochemistry. 1985;83(5):413–417. doi: 10.1007/BF00509202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bailly A., Atger M., Atger P., Cerbon M. A., Alizon M., Vu Haï M. T., Logeat F., Milgrom E. The rabbit uteroglobin gene. Structure and interaction with the progesterone receptor. J Biol Chem. 1983 Sep 10;258(17):10384–10389. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Baker M. E. Amino acid sequence homology between rat prostatic steroid binding protein and rabbit uteroglobin. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1983 Jul 18;114(1):325–330. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(83)91631-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brooks D. E., Means A. R., Wright E. J., Singh S. P., Tiver K. K. Molecular cloning of the cDNA for two major androgen-dependent secretory proteins of 18.5 kilodaltons synthesized by the rat epididymis. J Biol Chem. 1986 Apr 15;261(11):4956–4961. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. El Etreby M. F., Beier H. M., Elger W., Mahrous A. T., Töpert M. Immunocytochemical localization of uteroglobin in the genital tract of male rabbits. Cell Tissue Res. 1983;229(1):61–73. doi: 10.1007/BF00217880. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fernández-Renau D., Lombardero M., Nieto A. Glucocorticoid-dependent uteroglobin synthesis and uteroglobulin mRNA levels in rabbit lung explants cultured in vitro. Eur J Biochem. 1984 Nov 2;144(3):523–527. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1984.tb08497.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Goswami A., Feigelson M. Differential regulation of a low-molecular-weight protein in oviductal and uterine fluids by ovarian hormones. Endocrinology. 1974 Sep;95(3):669–675. doi: 10.1210/endo-95-3-669. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jones R., Brown C. R., Von Glós K. I., Parker M. G. Hormonal regulation of protein synthesis in the rat epididymis. Characterization of androgen-dependent and testicular fluid-dependent proteins. Biochem J. 1980 Jun 15;188(3):667–676. doi: 10.1042/bj1880667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kirchner C. Uteroglobin in the rabbit. I. Intracellular localization in the oviduct, uterus, and preimplantation blastocyst. Cell Tissue Res. 1976 Jul 30;170(3):415–424. doi: 10.1007/BF00219420. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lombardero M., Nieto A. Glucocorticoid and developmental regulation of uteroglobin synthesis in rabbit lung. Biochem J. 1981 Dec 15;200(3):487–494. doi: 10.1042/bj2000487. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. López de Haro M. S., Fernández-Renau D., Nieto A. Uteroglobin mRNA from the lung of the hare (Lepus capensis): cell-free translation and properties. Comp Biochem Physiol B. 1984;78(4):885–890. doi: 10.1016/0305-0491(84)90204-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. López de Haro M. S., Nieto A. Glucocorticoids induce the expression of the uteroglobin gene in rabbit foetal lung explants cultured in vitro. Biochem J. 1985 Jan 1;225(1):255–258. doi: 10.1042/bj2250255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. López de Haro M. S., Nieto A. Primary structure of rabbit lung uteroglobin as deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a cDNA. FEBS Lett. 1985 Dec 2;193(2):247–249. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(85)80162-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Mukherjee D. C., Agrawal A. K., Manjunath R., Mukherjee A. B. Suppression of epididymal sperm antigenicity in the rabbit by uteroglobin and transglutaminase in vitro. Science. 1983 Feb 25;219(4587):989–991. doi: 10.1126/science.6130601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Nieto A., Beato M. Synthesis and secretion of uteroglobin in rabbit endometrial explants cultured in vitro. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 1980 Jan;17(1):25–39. doi: 10.1016/0303-7207(80)90101-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Nieto A., Lombardero M. Uteroglobin-like antigens in species of Lagomorpha. Comp Biochem Physiol B. 1982;71(3):511–514. doi: 10.1016/0305-0491(82)90417-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Noske I. G., Feigelson M. Immunological evidence of uteroglobin (blastokinin) in the male reproductive tract and in nonreproductive ductal tissues and their secretions. Biol Reprod. 1976 Dec;15(5):704–713. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod15.5.704. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rifkin J. M., Olson G. E. Characterization of maturation-dependent extrinsic proteins of the rat sperm surface. J Cell Biol. 1985 May;100(5):1582–1591. doi: 10.1083/jcb.100.5.1582. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Snead R., Day L., Chandra T., Mace M., Jr, Bullock D. W., Woo S. L. Mosaic structure and mRNA precursors of uteroglobin, a hormone-regulated mammalian gene. J Biol Chem. 1981 Nov 25;256(22):11911–11916. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Suske G., Wenz M., Cato A. C., Beato M. The uteroglobin gene region: hormonal regulation, repetitive elements and complete nucleotide sequence of the gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Apr 25;11(8):2257–2271. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.8.2257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Torkkeli T., Krusius T., Jänne O. Uterine and lung uteroglobins in the rabbit. Two similar proteins with differential hormonal regulation. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1978 Dec 18;544(3):578–592. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(78)90332-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES