Chicken Oocytes and Somatic Cells Express Different Splice Variants of a Multifunctional Receptor

An abundant 95-kDa protein belonging to the low density lipoprotein receptor supergene family is essential for chicken oocyte growth by mediating the uptake of multiple plasma-borne yolk precursors. This receptor harbors at the amino terminus a cluster of eight tandemly arranged repeats typical of the ligand binding domains of members of this family and is designated low density lipoprotein receptor relative with 8 repeats (LR8). Here, we demonstrate by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Northern, and Western blot analyses that the chicken expresses two forms of LR8, which are generated by differential splicing of an exon encoding a serine- and threonine-rich region characteristic of LRs, termed O-linked sugar domain. The female germ cell of the chicken expresses extremely high levels of the short form of LR8 (LR8-), i.e. the 95-kDa protein; in contrast, somatic cells express lower but detectable levels of the form containing the O-linked sugar domain (LR8+). The main sites of LR8+ expression in the chicken are the heart and skeletal muscle, i.e. the same tissues were LR8 mRNAs predominate in mammals; in addition, in situ hybridization demonstrates that a significant amount of LR8+ is produced in the hen's ovarian follicular granulosa cells. We found no apparent functional difference between the two receptor forms; however, cell type-specific targeting of the multiple ligands of these receptors possibly relates to their respective expression on the cell surface.