Tissue specificity of calspermin: a heat-stable Mr 32,000 calmodulin-binding protein.

We previously reported that rat testis and porcine testis contain a physicochemically indistinguishable Mr 32,000 calmodulin-binding protein, which we named "calspermin." In this study, antiserum against calspermin from porcine testis was raised in a rabbit, and a radioimmunoassay was developed. The antiserum reacted with calspermin from porcine testis but possessed little cross-reactivity against calspermin from rat testis. Among various porcine tissues, this protein was found primarily in testis, sperm, and brain. Its concentration in the cytosol was higher than that in the particular fraction in testis, but the reverse was found in brain. In brain, its concentration was highest in gray matter of cortex and in cerebellum, and became lower in tectum, white matter of cortex, hypothalamus, midbrain, and pons, in this order, and was nondetectable in medulla oblongata.