Differences between Androgen-dependent Cytosol Proteins in the Ventral and Dorsolateral Lobes of Rat Prostate

Abstract

Androgen-dependent responses of the cytosol proteins from the ventral and dorsolateral lobes of the rat prostate were analyzed by SDS-electrophoresis. By castration, the relative content of the most abundant species, 16K (protein species having a molecular weight of about 16, 000) for the ventral lobe and 67K for the dorsolateral lobe, was decreased in the ventral lobe, but increased in the dorsolateral lobe. Of the ventral lobe-specific proteins (13K, 14K, 16K, and 20K), 13K, 14K and 20K were decreased by castration and restored to control levels by replacement of androgen. Of the dorsolateral lobe-specific proteins, however, the relative content of 30K was increased by castration and decreased by replacement of androgen, moreover, that of 120K was hardly influenced. These changes by castration were faster, and those by replacement of androgen slower, in the ventral lobe than in the dorsolateral lobe, in accord with the changes in the tissue weights.