Induction of tissue-specific proline-rich protein multigene families in rat and mouse parotid glands by isoproterenol. Unusual strain differences of proline-rich protein mRNAs.

A dramatic induction of proline-rich protein mRNAs by the beta-agonist isoproterenol in the parotid and submandibular glands of both rats and mice has been demonstrated using Northern and dot-blot hybridizations and cell-free translation. Proline-rich protein mRNAs were either very low or not detectable in glands of control rats and mice. After 4 days of isoproterenol treatment, mRNAs encoding these unusual proteins comprised over 50% of the total glandular mRNAs. A 2-4-fold increase in proline-rich protein mRNAs was observed in rat parotid glands as soon as 4 h after treatment. The rat proline-rich protein multigene family encodes two groups of mRNAs with sizes ranging from 600 to 1100 bases. Cell-free translations gave about 10-12 proline-rich proteins. In glands of isoproterenol-treated mice, major species of proline-rich protein mRNAs were observed at 1050 and 1300 bases for BALB/cJ and DBA/2J mice and at 1100 and 1200 bases for CD-1 and C57BL/6J mice. Cell-free translations showed unusual differences in proteins synthesized from the four strains after isoproterenol treatment. AtT20 cells were transfected with a mouse proline-rich protein gene inserted into the plasmid pUC8 (pUMP2-BE). Transcription of proline-rich protein mRNA was induced by exposing these transfected cells to either isoproterenol or cAMP, plus theophylline.