help button home button Endocrine Society Endocrinology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lolait, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Funder, J. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lolait, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Funder, J. W.

Endocrinology, Vol 117, 161-168, Copyright © 1985 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Ovarian immunoreactive beta-endorphin and estrous cycle in the rat

SJ Lolait, DJ Autelitano, AT Lim, AI Smith, BH Toh and JW Funder

Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were killed at different stages of a 4- day estrous cycle, and ovaries and anterior pituitaries examined for content of immunoreactive beta-endorphin by RIA and for localization by indirect immunofluorescence. Two anti-beta-endorphin antisera, both recognizing different antigenic determinants of human-beta-endorphin, showed intense immunofluorescence staining of cells localized predominantly in ovarian corpora lutea. At proestrus, both large and small luteal cells stained positively but only the large luteal cells were immunofluorescence positive at other stages of the estrous cycle. In addition, less intense staining of granulosa cells was occasionally observed in secondary and antral follicles; scattered cells in the interstitium were also weakly positive. In contrast, cells of primordial and primary follicles, and those of theca tissue were consistently negative. Ovarian levels of immunoreactive beta-endorphin were found to be lowest at estrus (2.1 +/- 0.18 ng/g; n = 8, mean +/- SE) and significantly raised in stepwise manner over metestrus and diestrus to a peak (approximately 4 X estrous levels) at proestrus; in contrast, immunoreactive beta-endorphin content of anterior pituitaries remained unaltered during the same period. Sephadex G-50 gel chromatography of ovarian extracts revealed three distinct peaks of immunoreactive beta-endorphin, a minor peak in the void volume, and two major peaks of unequal size eluting at mol wt approximately 11.5K and approximately 3.5K. The major species of low molecular weight immunoreactive beta-endorphin on reverse phase HPLC was beta-endorphin1- 31. We conclude from the findings that, in adult rat ovaries, luteal, granulosa, and interstitial cells are responsible for the production of immunoreactive beta-endorphin and that this production, being related to the estrous cycle, is presumably under the direct or indirect influence of gonadotropins.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Endocrinology Endocrine Reviews J. Clin. End. & Metab.
Molecular Endocrinology Recent Prog. Horm. Res. All Endocrine Journals
Copyright © 1985 by The Endocrine Society