[Antibacterial components of rat uterus].
The acid-soluble extract of rat uterus cavity wall was obtained by washing out the normal Sprague-Dawley rat uterus cavity with 1% acetic acid in the presence of protease inhibitors. When tested for antibacterial activity by sensitive agarose diffusion assay, the extract effectively killed E. coli ML-35P. The bactericidal activity of the acid-soluble extract was further analyzed by gel overlay technique. The result showed that three protein bands, which were designated rat uterus protein 1 (rat UP-1), rat uterus protein 2 (rat UP-2), and rat uterus protein 3 (rat UP-3), were potently antibacterial against E. coli ML-35P. The rat UP-1, rat UP-2, and rat UP-3 accounted for 4.5%, 5.7%, and 6.6% of the total proteins of the rat uterus acid-soluble extract respectively. The lysoplate assay for the determination of lysozyme activity showed that extract had some lysozyme activity, but the activity was very low. AU-PAGE analysis of the extract did not show the presence of lysozyme on the gel. This study suggested that the uterus wall might secrete some currently-unknown antibiotic polypeptides which play an important role in the uterus defense against bacterial infections.
Xu
L
L
Wu
Q
Q
Wang
B
B
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004717:Endometrium / Q000737:chemistry*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D010455:Peptides; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010455:Peptides