Expression of six mouse major urinary protein genes in the mammary, parotid, sublingual, submaxillary, and lachrymal glands and in the liver.

Abstract

Mouse major urinary proteins (MUPs) are encoded by a family of about 35 to 40 highly conserved genes. In the preceding paper (K. Shahan, M. Gilmartin, and E. Derman, Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:1938-1946, 1987, we presented the sequences of the most abundant MUP mRNAs in the liver (MUP I, II, and III) and in the lachrymal (MUP IV) and submaxillary (MUP V) glands. We have shown that these five mRNAs are coded by five distinct genes, MUP I through V. In the present communication, we examine the expression of MUP genes in all of the six tissues in which MUP mRNAs are synthesized, the mammary, parotid, sublingual, lachrymal, and submaxillary glands and the liver. We show that gene MUP II is expressed in the liver and in the mammary gland, that gene MUP IV is expressed in the lachrymal and parotid glands, and that gene MUP V is expressed in the submaxillary, sublingual, and lachrymal glands. Furthermore, we present evidence that in addition to genes MUP I through V, another gene, MUP VI, is expressed in BALB/c mice in the parotid gland. The tissue-specific synthesis of MUP mRNAs is thus brought about by two major mechanisms: the expression, in different tissues, of different members of the family and the expression of a single gene at various levels in different tissues. When a particular MUP gene is expressed in several tissues, transcripts of this gene initiate at the same site and are spliced and polyadenylated in the same manner.The mouse major urinary proteins (MUPs) are secretory proteins encoded by a family of genes that exhibit sequence conservation of at least 85%, both in the transcribed and in the flanking sequences (4; Y. Shi and E. Derman, unpublished data). MUPs are synthesized in six different tissues: the liver and the lachrymal, submaxillary, parotid, sublingual, and mammary glands (14, 16). In the liver, MUPs are synthesized in response to several hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, glucocorticoid hormones, and thyroxine and only in post-pubescent mice (10, 16). In contrast, in the submaxillary and lachrymal glands, MUPs are synthesized in prepubescent mice as well as in adult mice (16). The hormonal regulation in these two glands, however, does vary. Whereas the synthesis of MUPs in the submaxillary gland does not appear to be hormonally controlled, the synthesis of the lachrymal gland MUPs is regulated by testosterone (16).In the preceding paper (15), we described the sequences of the major species of MUP mRNAs in the liver and in the lachrymal and submaxillary glands, MUP I, II, III, IV, and V. These five mRNAs are encoded by five distinct members of the MUP gene family. The focus of the studies presented here is to examine the synthesis of MUP mRNAs in three additional tissues, the mammary, parotid, and sublingual glands, and to define the expression of each of the previously identified genes, MUPI to V. To this end, we characterized the expression of individual MUP genes with the synthetic oligonucleotide probes described in the preceding paper (15), in male and in female mice and at various ...

Major urinary protein 5, a scent communication protein, is regulated by dietary restriction and subsequent re-feeding in mice

“…After hepatic synthesis, Mup proteins are secreted into the circulation, and owing to their small size, they are rapidly excreted via urine [17,[21][22][23][24]. Mups account for 99 per cent of the protein content in mouse urine and provide persistent, highly diverse signals in mouse urinary scent marks [25,26].…”

Thermodynamic consequences of disrupting a water‐mediated hydrogen bond network in a protein:pheromone complex

“…These pheromones are excreted in male mouse urine (Novotny et al 1990); SBT induces estrus synchrony (Jemiolo et al 1986) and puberty acceleration in females (Novotny et al 1999a) and aggression in males (Novotny et al 1985), whereas HMH has an accelerating effect on female puberty onset (Novotny et al 1999b). MUPs (members of the lipocalin protein family) are a group of highly homologous soluble proteins that are either excreted in the urine or expressed in the nasal mucosa and lachrymal, parotid, sublingual, and submaxillary glands of mice (Finlayson and Braumann 1958;Sampsell and Held 1985;Shahan et al 1987). They bind to pheromones, and are proposed to play roles in regulating the release of pheromones from urine (Bacchini et al 1992;Robertson et al 1993), the capture of pheromones in the nose, and/or the delivery of pheromones to their receptors (Pelosi 1994;Marie et al 2000;Timm et al 2001;Sharrow et al 2002).…”

Roles for learning in mammalian chemosensory responses

“…In mice (Mus musculus) and rats (Rattus norvegicus), the higher 258 MUPs are produced by a number of secretory glands, including the salivary 264 glands, lacrimal glands and mammary glands, the main site of production is the 265 liver (Shahan et al, 1987). From there they are released into the blood plasma 266 and secreted by the kidneys.…”