Immunological measurement of human 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase

Abstract

Human placental 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17-HSD) was purified to apparent homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatography on Red-Agarose and DEAE-Sepharose columns. Electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels under denaturing conditions and using silver staining showed a single protein with an apparent molecular weight of 37,800. Antibodies to the purified protein were raised in rabbits and were found by immunoblotting to be specific to 17-HSD.

A sensitive radioimmunoassay was established using ¹²⁵I-labeled 17-HSD as a tracer, an appropriate dilution of the antibody, and a kaolin-coupled double antibody for separating the antibody-bound and free fractions. The detection limit of the assay was approximately 150 pg/tube (1.5 μg/l). The cytosol fraction (105,000 g) of term placental tissue contained approximately 0.7 mg of 17-HSD per gram of protein, and the concentrations of 17-HSD measured by immunoassay and enzymatic activity proved to be strictly parallel in different partly purified placental preparations.

The supernatants from centrifugations of human endometrial homogenates at 800 g and 105,000 g (after detergent treatment) displayed cross-reactivity with the antibody. The mean concentration of the cross-reacting substance in the radioimmunoassay was 14.1 μg/g protein (range 2–62.3) in specimens taken on different days in the cycle. These concentrations showed a significant correlation with the 17-HSD activities measured in the endometrial specimens (r = 0.722, P < 0.001, n = 21). Mean concentrations of substance were 8.3 μg/g protein in endometrial specimens taken during the follicular phase (days 4–12, n = 8) and 22.9 μg/g protein during the luteal phase (days 16–22, n = 6) were obtained using the radioimmuoassay. There was excellent parallelism between the competition curves for [¹²⁵I]iodo-17-HSD with purified 17-HSD standards and placental and endometrial homogenate dilutions. These data strongly suggest that the substance measured in the endometrial specimens was 17-HSD.