Abstract
Both enzyme activity and mRNA concentration of β-glucuronidase were measured in kidneys of mice treated with testosterone and the synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol. Six congenic strains, all having a C57BL6/J genetic background but each having a different haplotype of the β-glucuronidase gene complex, were compared. In each strain the induction caused by androgen was partially repressed by estrogen. The extent of this antagonism varied among the six haplotypes and was not coordinate with the extent of induction by androgen alone. Antagonism appears to be regulated by at least two alleles of a new locus,Gus-e, within the β-glucuronidase gene complex. Repression by estrogen, like induction by androgen, appears to take place primarily at the transcriptional level. Kinetic studies revealed that estrogen causes the androgen response curve to plateau earlier and at a lower level. This suggests that estrogen increases the rate of gene deactivation rather than decreasing the rate of gene activation, Isoelectric focusing of β-glucuronidase fromGus-e a andGus-e b mice and their F1 progeny revealed that the genes are regulated incis. Together, these findings support a model in which both sex hormones exert their effects on separate DNA response elements located in close proximity to the gene or within the gene itself.
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This work was supported with funds from the Schweizerische Stiftung für Medizinisch-Biologische Stipendien, Basel; the Stiftung Professor Dr. Max Cloëtta, Zürich; NIH Grant GM 31656; ACS Grant IRG-1225G; and The Jackson Laboratory.
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Watson, G., Jaussi, R., Tabron, D. et al. TheGus-e locus regulates estrogen repression of androgen-induced β-glucuronidase expression in mouse kidney. Biochem Genet 31, 155–166 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02399922
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02399922