Immunohistochemical localization of metallothionein in the rat prostate gland during postnatal development

Immunocytochemical and electrophoretic techniques were used to investigate the presence of metallothionein, a metal-binding protein, in the dorsolateral and ventral lobes of the developing rat prostate. Male rats aged 7 and 14 days were injected subcutaneously with 6 and 20 mg/kg body weight of cadmium and zinc, respectively, or with saline for controls, 24 h prior to tissue sampling. Immunohistochemical localization of metallothionein was observed in the epithelial tissues of the dorsolateral prostate from 7 and 14 day-old animals and in 1 day-old untreated rats. This staining pattern did not appear to be significantly affected by cadmium or zinc treatment. In contrast, metallothionein localization in the ventral prostate decreased with age but demonstrated a slight response to metal-ion treatment in the 7 day-old animals. Electrophoretic and immunoblot analysis confirmed the presence of metallothionein in the control and metal-induced prostate samples from neonatal rats. Lobe-specific differences in localization suggest a functional significance for metallothionein, independent of inducible protein.