GENETICS OF MURINE LIVER AND KIDNEY ARYLSULFATASE B

William L. Daniel ¹

¹ Department of Genetics and Development and School of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801

Mice from 12 inbred strains were surveyed for variation of kidney and liver arylsulfatase levels. Kidney variation was due to differences in the activity of arylsulfatase B. Twofold higher activities of arylsulfatase B in SWR/J kidney compared to A/HeJ kidney were determined by an autosomal gene which may be identical to the structural gene for arylsulfatase B since the SWR/J enzyme was more heat-stable than the A/HeJ enzyme. C57BL/6J mice possessed twofold higher liver arylsulfatase levels than did A/HeJ mice. The major portion of this variation could be attributed to differences in arylsulfatase B, and appeared to be inherited in autosomal fashion. Although some evidence supports the existence of a major locus influencing liver arylsulfatase activity, this must be substantiated by further studies. Whatever the nature of the genetic factors involved, they do not appear to involve structural genes since no differences were discernible between the enzymes of the two strains relevant to K_m, heat stability, electrophoretic mobility, pH optimum, activation energy, or response to several inhibitors. Furthermore, the rank ordering of strains on the basis of kidney arylsulfatase activity differed markedly from that which pertained to liver activity. Kidney arylsulfatase levels, but not brain or liver arylsulfatase activities, appear subject to androgenic influences.