Strain-specific occurrence of two ornithine decarboxylase species in mouse kidney.

Ornithine decarboxylase in the crude extract from the kidney of androgen-treated mice was labeled by reaction with radioactive alpha-difluoromethylornithine and analyzed by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography. Two species of ornithine decarboxylase with molecular weights of 54,000 and 52,000 were observed in the crude extracts from BALB, C57BL, C58, SJL, and dd mice but only the species with a molecular weight of 54,000 was observed in the crude extracts from AKR and C3H mice, indicating strain-specific occurrence of at least two species of mouse ornithine decarboxylase.