I. Barash et al., SYNTHESIS AND SECRETION OF CASEINS BY THE MOUSE MAMMARY-GLAND - PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW POLYCLONAL ANTIBODIES, Molecular and cellular biochemistry, 144(2), 1995, pp. 175-180
Polyclonal antibodies to mouse alpha- and beta/gamma-caseins were rais
ed in rabbits. These antibodies display tissue- and species specificit
y as shown by immunoblotting. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrate
that both alpha- and beta/gamma-caseins were synthesized and secreted
from virtually all lactating mammary epithelial cells, in a pattern v
ery similar to that of the mouse alpha-lactalbumin. Residual amounts o
f caseins were located also in the apical surface of epithelial cells
surrounding the ducal lumen of virgin mammary gland sections. In contr
ast to the significant level of gamma-casein in the milk, the amount o
f this protein compared to alpha- or beta-caseins was extremely low in
medium conditioned for 24 h by mammary explants of mid-pregnant mice
immediately after explantation or after 4 days.