α2u-Globulin (αG), the major urinary protein of sexually mature male rats, is a key determinant of susceptibility to hyaline droplet nephropathy (HDN) induced by a variety of hydrocarbons in male rats. Arguments against extrapolating renal toxicity and carcinogenicity data for HDN-inducing toxicants from male rats to risk assessment for humans rely on the observation that humans do not express αG. Yet, human serum and urine are known to contain proteins coded for by the same gene family that also controls αG synthesis in the rat. Therefore, to understand some of the quantitative and qualitative differences between proteins of human and male rat urine which confer apparent resistance to HDN in humans, urinary proteins of male F344 rats (ca. 3 months old) and normal human males were compared by cation exchange, gel filtration, SDS-PAGE, and partially identified by Western blotting. We observed that (1) the protein content of human urine is only 1% that of male rat urine; (2) human urinary proteins, recovered by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation followed by dialysis, are primarily of high (≥75 kDa) molecular weight (MW) with minor components of 12-66 kDa; (3) male rat urine has little high-MW protein, but is rich in αG (18.5 kDa); (4) at pH 5, the most cationic fraction of human urinary protein constituted only about 4% of the total while the analogous fraction of rat urine, containing αG, contained 26% of total urinary protein; and (5) cationic (at pH 5.0) human urinary proteins included small amounts of proteins, e.g., α1-acid glycoprotein, and α1-microglobulin, which are products of the gene family coding for αG in rat. Thus, although humans excrete trace amounts of proteins similar to αG, the very low protein content of human urine, the relatively small proportion of cationic to total proteins, and the high MW of the most abundant human urinary proteins form a biological basis for suggesting that humans are not at risk for the type of fuel and solvent hydrocarbon-induced nephropathy, and the sequelae of such nephropathy, observed in male rats. © 1990.
