A systematic study of biochemical differences between the lobes of the rat prostate.

The present study constitutes a systematic search for biochemical parameters which could be used to monitor the isolated function of various prostate lobes and accessory sex glands in the rat. Various parameters were measured in the 105 000 X g supernatants of the ventral, lateral and dorsal prostate lobes, and in the coagulating glands and seminal vesicles. These included spermine, citric acid, acid phosphatase, fructose and zinc, as well as the pattern of proteins in both cytosols and secretions, which were determined using one dimensional SDS, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results suggest that several parameters can be used including: Ventral lobe--spermine or prostatein; Lateral lobe--zinc or a 15 000 dalton protein; Dorsal lobe--spermine or a 60 000 dalton protein; and coagulating gland--fructose.