Tissue Specificity and Cell Death are Associated with Specific Alterations in Nuclear Matrix Proteins

Abstract

In the same animal, the ventral prostate and the seminal vesicle are both sensitive to androgen activation of tissue specific genes. We have reported that the nuclear matrix is the DNA organizing structure and is the location of actively transcribed genes as well as an acceptor site of the androgen receptor. In the present study, we have isolated nuclear matrices from seminal vesicle and ventral prostate of both normal and castrate rats, and compared each nuclear matrix preparation by high resolution two dimensional gel electrophoresis. We found that tissue specificity of the ventral prostate and the seminal vesicle resides within the protein composition of the nuclear matrix. The nuclear matrix is not only a determinant of tissue specificity but it also undergoes characteristic alterations during hormone action and cell death. In addition to novel proteins, phosphorylation of the nuclear matrix proteins is important in the determination of the tissue specific gene expression.