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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 68/1/174    most recent biolreprod.102.006577v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal My Folders Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fouchécourt, S. Articles by Dacheux, J.-L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fouchécourt, S. Articles by Dacheux, J.-L. Agricola Articles by Fouchécourt, S. Articles by Dacheux, J.-L.

Prostaglandin D₂ Synthase Secreted in the Caput Epididymidis Displays Spatial and Temporal Delay Between Messenger RNA and Protein Expression During Postnatal Development¹

^a Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR INRA-CNRS 6073, 37380 Nouzilly, France

Highly regionalized protein secretory activity is established progressively throughout the epididymal tubule during postnatal development. Prostaglandin D₂ synthase (PGDS) is a major protein in the ovine epididymis, the secretion of which is restricted to the proximal part of the epididymis. We investigated the mRNA and protein expression of PGDS during ontogenesis. PGDS mRNA was present in the testis and epididymis in the 50-day-old sheep fetus and persisted until 4 mo of age (2 mo before puberty) without mRNA translation in the epididymis. At 4.5 mo, mRNA was present in all of the epididymis, but translation occurred in only the proximal caput. The secreted protein present in the lumen from the caput to the cauda had the same molecular mass and isoelectric point (pI) characteristics as the testicular form. At 5.5 mo, both mRNA and protein expression were restricted to the proximal caput. The protein secreted accumulated in the cauda but was not processed after secretion as it is in the adult animal; no changes in molecular mass or pI were observed. Our results show that for at least one gene (PGDS), transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation during postnatal development is linked to the presence of unidentified translation factors present in testicular fluid.

¹ This study was supported by grants from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, France), ACC-SV 9504155, and the Région Centre (France).

² Correspondence. FAX: 33 02 47 42 77 43; jdacheux{at}tours.inra.fr

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