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Regulation Of Vitellogenin And Other Serum Proteins By Estrogen And Xenobiotic Estrogens In Salamanders, Lisa Marie Nespoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental estrogens pose potential health risks to humans and wildlife by disrupting physiological and developmental processes; therefore, our laboratory has been designing in vivo bioassays on induction of the egg-yolk precursor protein vitellogenin. I have provided information on vitellogenin induction by estrogens in tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum), spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), Morelet's crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii), and developed vitellogenin immunoassays in these species. Salamanders were estrogen-injected; blood was collected at intervals. Estrogen exposed male salamanders of all species, produced substantial quantities of a 200-kDa protein, the approximate size of vertebrate vitellogenins. Sequencing of estrogen-induced proteins showed substantial homology …