DISTINCT TRANSCRIPTS ARE RECOGNIZED BY SENSE AND ANTISENSE RIBOPROBESFOR A MEMBER OF THE MURINE HSP70 GENE FAMILY, HSP70.2, IN VARIOUS REPRODUCTIVE TISSUES

The expression of hsp70.2, an hsp70 gene family member, originally cha racterized by its high levels of expression in germ cells in the adult mouse testis, was detected in several other reproductive tissues, inc luding epididymis, prostate, and seminal vesicles, as well as in extra embryonic tissues of mid-gestation fetuses. In addition, hybridization with RNA probes transcribed in the sense orientation surprisingly ind icated the presence of slightly larger ''antisense'' transcripts in se veral tissues. The levels of antisense transcripts varied among the ti ssues, with the highest signal detected in the prostate and no signal being detectable in the testis. Consistent with these results, in situ hybridization analysis clearly localized the sense-orientation transc ripts to pachytene spermatocytes, while no antisense-orientation trans cripts were observed in adjacent sections of the same tubules. Our fin dings have thus shown that although hsp70.2 was expressed abundantly a nd in a highly stage-specific manner in the male germ line, it was als o expressed in other murine tissues. Furthermore we have made the surp rising observation of antisense transcription of the hsp70.2 gene in s everal mouse tissues, revealing another level of complexity in the reg ulation and function of heat shock proteins. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.