Synthesis of a Specific Protein Induced by Zearalenone and Its Derivatives in Rat Uterus

抄録

Zearalenone and its derivatives (α-zearalenol and α-zearalanol), estrogenic mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species, when added in vivo and in vitro to immature rat uteri, induced the incorporation of labeled amino acids into a specific uterine protein (induced protein). When immature rat uteri were incubated with α-zearalenol in vitro, the maximum induction of the induced protein synthesis was obtained with 1×10^-6M and the induction was detected 15min after the start of the incubation. Moreover, this induction was strongly inhibited by prior addition of inhibitors of RNA synthesis such as α-amanitin and actinomycin D. The molecular weight of the induced protein obtained by the in vivo and in vitro treatments with zearalenone and α-zearalenol was estimated to be about 52, 000 by means of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
These findings clearly indicate that these estrogenic mycotoxins, despite their non-steroidal structures, exhibit an estrogenic activity toward target tissues in a similar manner to that of natural estrogens.