INVITRO SYNTHESIS OF TOTAL PROTEIN AND PLACENTAL PROTEIN PP14 BY THE FALLOPIAN-TUBE MUCOSA - VARIATION IN RELATION TO ANATOMICAL SITE, THE OVARIAN CYCLE AND THE MENOPAUSE

De-novo synthesis and secretion of protein by short term explants of m ucosa from each anatomical section of the Fallopian tube and endometri um of pre-menopausal (n = 25) and tubal mucosa of post-menopausal (n = 5) women were studied by demonstration of incorporation of radiolabel led L-[S-35]methionine and one-dimensional SDS-polyacrylamide gel elec trophoresis. A consistent finding in 25 pre-menopausal women was the p resence of a 25 kDa protein band synthesized by tissue obtained throug hout the ovarian cycle. Western blotting demonstrated that this protei n band contained placental protein 14 (PP14)-like immunoreactivity in the proliferative (n = 2) and luteal phase (n = 2) of the ovarian cycl e. To determine if there is quantitative variation in total protein an d PP14 synthesis and secretion during the ovarian cycle, the total qua ntities of protein and PP14 synthesized were determined by Coomassie B rilliant Blue staining and radioimmunoassay respectively. Analysis of the results of total protein assay revealed statistically significant differences in relation to the anatomical origin of the study tissue ( P < 0.01), the stage of the ovarian cycle (P < 0.04) and the manner in which each anatomical site varied during the ovarian cycle (P < 0.01) , the endometrium being significantly different from the Fallopian tub e. When the data for PP14 synthesized by the Fallopian tube mucosa wer e analysed, these effects were not seen. PP14 was not detected in the culture media of Fallopian tube mucosa obtained from post-menopausal w omen.