title: Different expression of lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase in rat epididymidis.
abstract: This study was designed to explore the different expression of L-PGDS (lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase) in rat epididymidis and to gain further insight into the potential function of L-PGDS in male reproduction. The expression of L-PGDS in rat epididymidis was assessed using real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblotting. The distribution of L-PGDS in rat epididymidis was explored by immunohistochemical methods. The result of immunohistochemistry displayed that L-PGDS was mainly distributed in epididymidis and localized within the cytoplasm and the cilia of the epithelial cells. Real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblotting showed that L-PGDS was strikingly expressed in the caput epididymidis, while a moderate to weak expression was observed in the corpus and cauda epididymidis, the level of mRNA was 0.52+/-0.02 in the caput, 0.48+/-0.03 in the corpus and 0.32+/-0.01 in the cauda epididymidis, the level of protein expression in caput, corpus and the cauda groups was 1, 0.89+/-0.03 and 0.62+/-0.01, which suggested that L-PGDS may play certain kind of role during the process of the spermatozoa maturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Fuyang Normal College, Fuyang 230632, China.
authors.forename: De-Yu
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Sheng-Jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Mao-Ying
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wen-Yong
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ya-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Yu-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004822:Epididymis / Q000201:enzymology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D054834:Lipocalins; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D054834:Lipocalins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases; C022466:prostaglandin R2 D-isomerase