GLYCOPROTEINS OF MOUSE VAGINAL EPITHELIUM - DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION RELATED TO ESTROUS CYCLICITY

We used lectin overlay blotting and SDS-PAGE to analyze the estrous cy cle-specific expression of mouse vaginal epithelial glycoproteins. Sev en lectins chosen for their differential carbohydrate-binding specific ity revealed 15 glycoproteins that showed cycle-related expression. Ea ch lectin had a unique binding pattern different from the patterns rev ealed by other lectins. However, several estrous cycle phase-specific glycoproteins reacted with more than one lectin. The most prominent of these glycoproteins (M(r) 92-95 KD) was weakly expressed in late dies trus and fully expressed only in proestrus, coincident with the transf ormation of two superficial layers Of vaginal squamous epithelium into mucinous cuboidal cells. Electron microscopic lectin histochemistry r evealed the glycoproteins in the mucinous granules of surface cuboidal cells and in the lumen of the vagina. Our results illustrate the comp lexity of glycoconjugate synthesis in mouse vagina and reveal the dist inct cycle-specific patterns of individual glycoprotein expression. Th ese cyclic glycoproteins could serve as vaginal biochemical markers fo r the specific phases of the estrous cycle.