Studies on newt sex-attractant

人们普遍认为，在求偶过程中，雄性蝾螈用化学暗示吸引性发育成熟的雌性蝾螈。在红腹蝾螈，Cynops pyrrhogaster，性成熟的女性被吸引到水，其中性活跃的男性蝾螈已被保存，但不是水，其中腹部腺体消融的男性蝾螈已被保存，表明女性吸引信息素分泌的腹部腺体。尝试已经取得了分离和表征这种信息素从性成熟的雄性蝾螈的腹部腺体。近年来，研究发现，引诱雌性的信息素是一种十肽，其氨基酸序列为Ser-Ile-Pro-Ser-Lys-Asp-Ala-Leu-Leu-Lys。该肽与任何已知的肽没有序列同源性。因此，新的肽被命名为sodefrin。在这项研究中，为了揭示sodefrin在红腹蝾螈腹部腺体中的定位并开发一种用于测量sodefrin的特异性放射免疫分析系统，我们生成了一个 关于我们 通过注射sodefrin（在其COOH-末端用Cys与匙孔血蓝蛋白偶联进行延伸），在兔体内产生抗sodefrin的抗血清。用sodefrin抗血清免疫荧光染色的腹部腺体冰冻切片显示，上皮细胞的顶端区域为sodefrin阳性。用过量的sodefrin预吸附的抗血清染色切片，减少了免疫荧光，表明抗血清特异性识别组织中的sodefrin。用sodefrin抗血清和金颗粒标记的山羊抗兔IgG作为第二抗体对腹腺进行免疫电镜研究。金颗粒主要分布在分泌颗粒上，表明sodefrin由腹腺上皮细胞分泌。此外，证实了通过使水经受抗sodefrin柱，雌性吸引活性显著降低。通过将雄性水置于正常兔IgG柱中获得的未吸附级分显示出其活性，该活性接近于未处理水的活性。这表明，sodefrin是主要的女性吸引物质的男性水。少

It has been well accepted that during courtship, male newts attract sexually developed females using chemical cues. In the red-bellied newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, sexually mature females are attracted to water in which sexually active male newts have been kept, but not to water in which abdominal gland-ablated male newts have been kept, indicating that the female-attracting pheromone is secreted by the abdominal gland. An attempt has been made to isolate and characterize this pheromone from the abdominal glands of sexually mature male newts. Recently, female-attracting pheromone was revealed to be a decapeptide with the amino acid sequence Ser-Ile-Pro-Ser-Lys-Asp-Ala-Leu-Leu-Lys. The peptide showed no sequence homology with any known peptide. Thus the novel peptide was designated sodefrin. In this study, to reveal the localization of sodefrin in the abdominal gland of the red-bellied newt and to develop a specific radioimmunoassay system for the measurement of sodefrin, we generated an … More antiserum against sodefrin in a rabbit by injecting sodefrin that was extended on its COOH-terminus with Cys coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Frozen sections of abdominal glands stained with the antiserum to sodefrin by immunofluorescenece showed that the apical region of the epithelial cells was positive for sodefrin. Staining of sections with the antiserum preadsorbed with an excess amount of sodefrin reduced the immunofluorescenece, indicating that the antiserum specifically recognizes sodefrin in the tissue. An immunoelectron microscopic study of the abdominal gland was performed using sodefrin antiserum and goat anti-rabbit IgG labeled with gold particles as a second antibody. The gold particles were distributed mainly on the secretory granules, indicating clearly that sodefrin is secreted by the epithelial cells of the abdominal gland. Furthermore, it was confirmed that female-attracting activity was markedly reduced by subjecting the water to an anti-sodefrin column. The unadsorbed fraction obtained by subjecting the male water to a normal rabbit IgG column exhibited its activity that was close to the activity of the untreated water. This indicates that sodefrin is the major female-attracting substance in the male water. Less