Age-associated changes in acid phosphatase characteristics in rat ventral prostate and other organs.

Certain characteristics of acid phosphatase in the adult male rat are under androgenic control. In further investigations of this control, (1) the polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic pattern of enzyme activity, (2) enzyme specific activity, and (3) the extent of inhibition of enzyme activity by 1-tartrate were examined for prostate, seminal vesicles, kidney, liver and testes from immature, maturing, young, and old mature adult rats. On gel electrophoresis, lysosomal acid phosphatase activity was found for all tissues from all groups of animals. Secretory enzyme was found for the prostate gland, but only after maturation (it appeared between days 28 and 35). At the same time the percent inhibition of activity by tartrate decreases. For the other tissues, the percent inhibition by tartrate increases for the liver and seminal vesicles but not for the kidney and testes. These changes may reflect alterations in lysosomal enzyme characteristics and can be related to known changes in androgen production throughout the life span of the rat.