Characterization of a uterine luminal fluid protein ULF‐250 using N‐terminal microsequencing and RT‐PCR identifies a novel estrogen‐regulated gene in the rat uterus

Abstract

We bad previously identified an estrogen responsive protein ULF-250, synthesized and secreted by the estrous rat uterus, which is immunologically distinct from complement C3 and az-macroglobulin. The N-terminal microsequencing of ULF-250 followed by sequence homology analysis showed that this protein is a new member of a class of estrogen responsive proteins in the uterus. Polymerase chain reaction with a ULF-250 specific primer yielded partial sequence information of its message. The observed pattern of ULF-250 message in the uterus during the various stages of the reproductive cycle in the rat suggested a possible regulation of ULF-250 message by 17gestradiol. Upstream sequencing of ULF-250 message and its promoter domains would provide insight into the mechanism of its regulation by estradiol.