The androgen-binding protein gene is expressed in male and female rat brain

Extracellular androgen-binding proteins (ABP) are thought to modulate the regulatory functions of androgens and the trans-acting nuclear androgen receptor. Testicular ABP and plasma sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), which is produced in liver, are encoded by the same gene. We have now found that the ABP-SHBG gene is also expressed in male and female rat brain. Immunoreactive ABP was found to be present in neuronal cell bodies throughout the brain as well as in fibers of the hypothalamic median eminence. The highest concentrations of immunoreactive cell bodies were located in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei. Likewise, ABP mRNA was present in all brain regions examined. Analysis of cDNA clones representing brain ABP mRNAs revealed amino acid sequence differences in brain and testicular ABPs. The protein encoded by an alternatively processed RNA has sequence characteristics suggesting that the protein could act as a competitior of ABP binding to cell surface receptors. These data and gene-sequencing experiments indicate that a specific ABP gene promoter is used for transcription initiation in brain. ABP may function in brain as an androgen carrier protein; however, in view of the widespread presence of ABP and ABP mRNA in brain, the protein may have a much broader, yet unknown, function.