Biochim Biophys Acta. 1994 Sep 13;1219(1):215-8.
Cloning and sequencing of cDNAs for rabbit preproacrosin and a novel preproacrosin-related cDNA.
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599.
A 1414 bp cDNA for rabbit preproacrosin (RPA) and a related short preproacrosin (shRPA) cDNA of 951 bp were cloned and sequenced. RPA's 431 amino acid open reading frame encodes a 46,422 kDa protein. shRPA is identical to RPA except that it lacks an internal stretch of 468 bp, such that the encoded protein has a deduced molecular mass of 29,965 kDa. Antiserum against a synthetic peptide representing the light chain of rabbit proacrosin was used on Western blots of rabbit testis and sperm. Under reducing conditions, it revealed two major groups of bands at 50-57 and 29-32 kDa. Several lines of evidence suggest that shRPA is a splice variant of proacrosin and that it encodes a 30-33 kDa protein similar to sperminogen (Siegel, M. et al. (1987) Biol. Reprod. 36, 1063-1068), but apparently lacking proteinase activity.