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Luteinized Rat Ovaries Contain a Sterol Carrier Protein^*

TOSHINOBU TANAKA, JEFFREY T. BILLHEIMER and JEROME F. STRAUSS, III

Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Department of Pathology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Department of Biological Sciences, Drexel University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.

Abstract

Highly luteinized rat ovaries contain a soluble 13,000 mol wt factor which binds [³H]cholesterol and enhances cholesterol transfer from phospholipid vesicles to mitochondria. The ovarian cholesterol transfer protein was purified 1200-fold. It has a basic isoelectric point, is heat stable, and has an amino acid composition similar to that reported for rat liver sterol carrier protein₂. Antisera raised against preparations of rat liver sterol carrier protein₂ precipitated labeled cholesterol associated with the ovarian 13,000 mol wt fraction. A line of partial identity was obtained when the ovarian fractions and purified rat liver sterol carrier protein₂ were run against these antisera in double immunodiffusion. We conclude that luteinized rat ovaries contain a sterol carrier protein with properties similar to hepatic sterol carrier protein₂. This protein may facilitate the intracellular distribution of cholesterol in ovarian cells. (Endocrinology 114: 533, 1984)

Footnotes

^* Supported by USPHS Grants HD-12314 and HD-06274.

Present address: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.

Received February 16, 1983.

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