| First Author | Bellemare V | Year | 2006 |
| Journal | J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol | Volume | 98 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 18-24 |
| PubMed ID | 16191478 | Mgi Jnum | J:105856 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3616765 | Doi | 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2005.07.004 |
| Citation | Bellemare V, et al. (2006) Isolation and characterization of a cDNA encoding mouse 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase: an androgen-inactivating enzyme selectively expressed in female tissues. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 98(1):18-24 |
| abstractText | 3alpha-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase catalyzes the transformation of 3-ketosteroids into 3alpha-hydroxysteroids, thus playing an important role in androgen and progesterone metabolism. So far, mouse cDNA and gene encoding 3alpha-HSD has not been reported. In this report, we describe the isolation of a mouse 3alpha-HSD cDNA and the characterization of its substrate specificity and tissue distribution. Sequence analysis indicates that m3alpha-HSD shares 87% amino acid identity with rat 3alpha-HSD. Cells stably transfected with this enzyme catalyze the transformation of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), 5alpha-androstanedione (5alpha-dione) and dihydroprogesterone (DHP) into 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol (3alpha-diol), androsterone (ADT) and 5alpha-pregnan-3alpha-ol-20-one (allopregnanolone), respectively. Quantification of mRNA expression levels of this enzyme was determined in male and female mouse sex-specific tissues using quantitative Realtime PCR. We show that this enzyme is mainly expressed in female-specific tissues while being almost absent from male-specific tissues. In the liver, the same expression level is seen in both male and female, while there is 6-fold higher expression level in female pituitary than in male. These results strongly suggest that m3alpha-HSD could play an important role in the female mouse physiology similar to that of type 1 5alpha-reductase with which it works in tandem. This role could be related to the inactivation of excess of androgen and progesterone that are more severely regulated than in man. |
