Regulation of mouse major urinary protein production by the Mup-A gene.

A method was developed to quantitate the daily excretion of the three major urinary proteins (mups) to test which parameters of the mup phenotype are controlled by the the Mup-a gene. Electrophoretic separation of the mup proteins, followed by staining and spectrophotometric scanning was used to characterize the phenotypes of various inbred strains. The mup phenotype of a strain proved to have two components: the absolute levels and the relative proportions of the mups present in the urine. Testosterone treatment alters both components of the mup phenotype, increasing mup excretion and aftering their relative proportions. The induced proteins are the same as the basal proteins as judged by electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight, and reactivity with antibody. All strains excrete all three mups when induced. The Mup-a gene appears to be a single, codominantly expressed regulatory locus that controls the induced proportions of the three proteins. However, other genes in addition to Mup-a participate in controlling the basal mup proportions, as well as individual and total mup levels before and after testosterone treatment.