Glareosin: a novel sexually dimorphic urinary lipocalin in the bank vole, Myodes glareolus.
The urine of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) contains substantial quantities of a small protein that is expressed at much higher levels in males than females, and at higher levels in males in the breeding season. This protein was purified and completely sequenced at the protein level by mass spectrometry. Leucine/isoleucine ambiguity was completely resolved by metabolic labelling, monitoring the incorporation of dietary deuterated leucine into specific sites in the protein. The predicted mass of the sequenced protein was exactly consonant with the mass of the protein measured in bank vole urine samples, correcting for the formation of two disulfide bonds. The sequence of the protein revealed that it was a lipocalin related to aphrodisin and other odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), but differed from all OBPs previously described. The pattern of secretion in urine used for scent marking by male bank voles, and the similarity to other lipocalins used as chemical signals in rodents, suggest that this protein plays a role in male sexual and/or competitive communication. We propose the name glareosin for this novel protein to reflect the origin of the protein and to emphasize the distinction from known OBPs.
['Loxley|Grace M|GM|0000-0002-1884-5461', 'Unsworth|Jennifer|J|', 'Turton|Michael J|MJ|', 'Jebb|Alexandra|A|', 'Lilley|Kathryn S|KS|0000-0003-0594-6543', 'Simpson|Deborah M|DM|0000-0002-3962-4895', 'Rigden|Daniel J|DJ|0000-0002-7565-8937', 'Hurst|Jane L|JL|0000-0002-3728-9624', 'Beynon|Robert J|RJ|0000-0003-0857-495X']
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence D000819:Animal Communication D000818:Animals D003411:Arvicolinae D005260:Female D015870:Gene Expression D054834:Lipocalins D008297:Male D008970:Molecular Weight D010675:Pheromones D010802:Phylogeny D000072756:Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical D000072757:Protein Conformation, beta-Strand D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs D011506:Proteins D012098:Reproduction D016415:Sequence Alignment D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid D012737:Sex Factors
glareosin bank vole mass spectrometry metabolic labelling odorant-binding protein Myodes glareoulus