Major Contribution of Epididymis to α-Glucosidase Content of Ram Seminal Plasma1
Autor: | J Besançon, Robert Paquin, Roland R. Tremblay, Jean-Louis Dacheux |
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Rok vydání: | 1985 |
Předmět: |
chemistry.chemical_classification
endocrine system medicine.medical_specialty Sucrose Density gradient Cell Biology General Medicine Biology Epididymis chemistry.chemical_compound Enzyme medicine.anatomical_structure Endocrinology Reproductive Medicine chemistry Alpha-glucosidase Rete testis Internal medicine biology.protein medicine Rete testis fluid Sodium dodecyl sulfate |
Zdroj: | Biology of Reproduction. 33:296-301 |
ISSN: | 1529-7268 0006-3363 |
DOI: | 10.1095/biolreprod33.2.296 |
Popis: | Acid alpha-glucosidase and L-carnitine (a well-known epididymal marker) were measured in rete testis and epididymal fluids of adult male rams. These fluids were collected by selective catheterization or by a micropuncture technique, respectively. Both parameters remained at a low and constant level in rete testis and all along caput and corpus epididymidis. Then they increased at equivalent rates in cauda epididymidis to much higher levels than those in seminal plasma (5 mU/mg protein and 10 mM, respectively). An optimum pH study of alpha-glucosidase activity in these fluids showed two well-separated peaks in rete testis and caput epididymal fluids around pH 4 and 7, respectively, but only a single peak at pH 4 in cauda epididymidis that was comparable to the one in seminal plasma. Sucrose density gradient fractions analyzed for their enzyme content in the absence or presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (1% w/v), a selective inhibitor of acid alpha-glucosidase activity, allowed the demonstration of two enzyme forms at pH 6.8 in rete testis fluid sedimenting in the 7S and 4S regions of the gradient, while a unique 4S form was encountered in cauda epididymidis and in seminal plasma. Although the fate of the minor 7S component of the rete testis fluid in its epididymal transit is presently unknown, similarities between the enzyme in cauda epididymidis and seminal plasma are strong enough to support the hypothesis that epididymis contributes primarily to the acid alpha-glucosidase content of ram seminal plasma. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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