scholarly journals Studies on an extract of rat testicular microsomal fraction that catalyses the transformation of progesterone into 17-hydroxyprogesterone and androgens

1971 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry C. Ford ◽  
Vincent J. O'Donnell

The supernatant obtained by centrifugation of Triton N-101-treated freeze-dried rat testicular microsomal fraction at 105000gav. for 2h transformed progesterone into testosterone via 17-hydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione and androst-4-ene-3,17-dione. Hydroxylation at C-17 of 3β-hydroxypregn-5-en-20-one and deoxycorticosterone was not observed. Non-haem iron protein, cytochrome P-450 and material with NADPH dehydrogenase activity were precipitated by 40% saturation of the supernatant with ammonium sulphate; however, it was not possible to establish the participation of these substances in the 17α-hydroxylase and side-chain-cleavage activities also present in the precipitate. The results of gel-filtration chromatography indicated that the Triton N-101 extract consisted primarily of a suspension of small particles of microsomes and that the progesterone 17-hydroxylase and the 17-hydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione side-chain-cleavage enzyme were not in true solution.

1971 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. F. Flint ◽  
D. T. Armstrong

1. The specific radioactivities of non-esterified and esterified cholesterol, progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were determined in slices of superovulated rat ovary after incubation with [1-14C]acetate in vitro for various times. The specific radioactivities of progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were equal, and (during the fourth hour of incubation) exceeded those of the non-esterified cholesterol and the esterified cholesterol by factors of 2.8 and 7.6 respectively. 2. After separation of homogenates of superovulated rat ovary slices previously incubated with [14C]acetate into subcellular fractions by differential centrifugation, the specific radioactivities of non-esterified cholesterol in the cytosol, mitochondria, lipid-containing storage granules and microsomal fraction were 1220, 1510, 1420 and 4020d.p.m./μmol respectively; the corresponding values for the specific radioactivity of the esterified cholesterol were 600, 700, 730 and 760d.p.m./μmol. The specific radioactivities of progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were equal in all fractions; the corresponding mean specific radioactivity of progesterone+20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one was 6150d.p.m./μmol. 3. By using glutamate dehydrogenase and cytochrome (a+a3) as mitochondrial markers, the presence of cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme was demonstrated in microsomal fraction free of mitochondrial contamination. 4. The specific radioactivities of ovarian non-esterified and esterified cholesterol, progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were determined up to 8h after the intravenous injection of [4-14C]cholesterol into superovulated rats. At all times the specific radioactivities of progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were equal to the specific radioactivity of non-esterified cholesterol and exceeded, by up to 3.3-fold, that of the esterified cholesterol. 5. It is concluded that non-esterified cholesterol formed from [14C]acetate in the endoplasmic reticulum equilibrates slowly with non-esterified cholesterol in other subcellular fractions, and is preferentially converted into steroids. Such a mechanism presupposes the operation of a microsomal cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme using non-esterified cholesterol as its substrate. Unrelated evidence is presented in support of the existence of such an enzyme. The results are discussed in the light of other biochemical and electron-microscopic findings relating to the compartmentation of cholesterol in steroidogenic tissues.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Alisdair Boag ◽  
Kerry McLaughlin ◽  
Mike Christie ◽  
Peter Graham ◽  
Harriet Syme ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Sergei A. Usanov ◽  
Paavo Honkakoski ◽  
Matti A. Lang ◽  
Markku Pasanen ◽  
Olavi Pelkonen ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 713-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Kian Tee ◽  
Michal Abramsohn ◽  
Neta Loewenthal ◽  
Mark Harris ◽  
Sudeep Siwach ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
L J Spicer ◽  
T D Hamilton ◽  
B E Keefer

Abstract Studies were conducted to determine the importance of de novo cholesterol synthesis and cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme in the action of IGF-I in bovine granulosa and thecal cells. Granulosa and thecal cells from bovine follicles were cultured for 2 days in 10% fetal calf serum and then treated with luteinizing hormone (100 ng/ml) and IGF-I (0 or 100 ng/ml) for an additional 2 days in serum-free medium. During the last 24 h of treatment, cells were concomitantly treated with simvastatin (0, 0·5 or 5 μg/ml) or 25-hydroxycholesterol (0 or 10 μg/ml). Simvastatin, a potent inhibitor of the key enzyme controlling de novo cholesterol synthesis, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, completely inhibited (P<0·05) progesterone production by granulosa cells and progesterone and androstenedione production by thecal cells. Simvastatin also inhibited (P<0·05) granulosa cell and thecal cell proliferation. Concomitant treatment with mevalonate, an immediate product of HMG-CoA reductase, attenuated the inhibitory effect of simvastatin on progesterone and androstenedione production by thecal cells and blocked the inhibitory effect of simvastatin on cell proliferation. The addition of 25-hydroxycholesterol, a substrate for cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme, had no effect (P>0·10) on IGF-I-stimulated progesterone or androstenedione production by thecal cells and actually inhibited (P<0·05) IGF-I-stimulated progesterone production by granulosa cells. These results provide indirect evidence indicating that stimulation of HMG-CoA reductase is an important locus of IGF-I action in bovine granulosa and thecal cells, whereas IGF-I has little or no effect on side-chain cleavage enzyme activity in these same cell types under the culture conditions employed. Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 151, 365–373


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