Higgins S J, Brooks D E, Fuller F M, Jackson P J, Smith S E
Biochem J. 1981 Mar 15;194(3):895-905. doi: 10.1042/bj1940895.
Functional development of the sex accessory tissues was studied in the male rat. Three potentially crucial developmental periods (neonatal, prepubertal and pubertal) were examined, and then the functional integrity of the accessory tissues was investigated in the adult, when the animals would have been expected to display normal function. Four accessory tissues (the seminal vesicles, ventral prostate and caput and cauda epididymides) were used because of their different embryological origins and responses to androgens in the adult. Synthesis and secretion of previously characterized tissue-specific androgen-dependent proteins were taken as indicators of normal function. Development was perturbed by using oestradiol benzoate, since this was known to affect gross development of the seminal vesicles and ventral prostate when given to neonatal rats. Treatment during the first 5 days after birth severely restricted development of the seminal vesicles and ventral prostate. Protein secreted by the former was only 1% of the normal amount, and in many cases several major secretory proteins were essentially missing. Prostatic protein secretion was less than 20% of normal, but all the major proteins were detectable. In both tissues overall protein synthesis per cell was quantitatively normal, but the proportion devoted to specific major secretory proteins was markedly depressed, i.e. the response is differential. In contrast, treatment during the prepubertal period was without noticeable effects. Development of the seminal vesicles and prostate was somewhat inhibited by treatment at puberty, but these changes were minor compared with those after neonatal exposure to oestradiol benzoate. No effects on epididymal protein synthesis or secretory proteins were observed, and epididymal weight and DNA content were only moderately decreased regardless of when oestradiol benzoate was administered during sexual maturation. Hence the neonatal period is not so critical for epididymal development. The substantial changes elicited by oestrogen treatment during neonatal life in seminal-vesicle and prostatic protein synthesis and secretion were compared with those evoked in sexually mature males by either oestrogen treatment or castration. Both these latter treatments resulted in a general decrease in seminal-vesicle protein synthesis and secretion, but the marked differential effects on major proteins after neonatal exposure were absent. Castration did, however, evoke a differential prostatic response, but this was not seen after oestrogen treatment of adults.
在雄性大鼠中研究了性附属组织的功能发育。研究了三个可能至关重要的发育时期（新生期、青春期前和青春期），然后在成年动物中研究附属组织的功能完整性，此时预期动物会表现出正常功能。使用了四种附属组织（精囊、腹侧前列腺以及附睾头和附睾尾），因为它们在成年期具有不同的胚胎学起源和对雄激素的反应。合成和分泌先前已表征的组织特异性雄激素依赖性蛋白被用作正常功能的指标。使用苯甲酸雌二醇干扰发育，因为已知给新生大鼠注射该物质会影响精囊和腹侧前列腺的总体发育。出生后前5天进行治疗严重限制了精囊和腹侧前列腺的发育。前者分泌的蛋白质仅为正常量的1%，在许多情况下，几种主要分泌蛋白基本缺失。前列腺蛋白分泌不到正常的20%，但所有主要蛋白都可检测到。在这两种组织中，每个细胞的总体蛋白质合成在数量上是正常的，但用于特定主要分泌蛋白的比例明显降低，即反应是有差异的。相比之下，青春期前进行治疗没有明显效果。青春期治疗对精囊和前列腺的发育有一定抑制作用，但与新生期接触苯甲酸雌二醇后的变化相比，这些变化较小。未观察到对附睾蛋白质合成或分泌蛋白的影响，无论在性成熟期间何时给予苯甲酸雌二醇，附睾重量和DNA含量仅适度降低。因此，新生期对附睾发育并非至关重要。将新生期雌激素治疗引起的精囊和前列腺蛋白质合成及分泌的实质性变化与性成熟雄性动物经雌激素治疗或去势引起的变化进行了比较。后两种治疗均导致精囊蛋白质合成和分泌普遍减少，但新生期接触后对主要蛋白质的明显差异效应不存在。然而，去势确实引起了前列腺的差异反应，但成年动物雌激素治疗后未观察到这种反应。
