| First Author | Ingraham HA | Year | 1994 |
| Journal | Genes Dev | Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 19 | Pages | 2302-12 |
| PubMed ID | 7958897 | Mgi Jnum | J:20830 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:68900 | Doi | 10.1101/gad.8.19.2302 |
| Citation | Ingraham HA, et al. (1994) The nuclear receptor steroidogenic factor 1 acts at multiple levels of the reproductive axis. Genes Dev 8(19):2302-12 |
| abstractText | Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1), an orphan nuclear receptor, regulates the enzymes that produce sex steroids, and disruption of the Ftz-F1 gene encoding SF-1 precludes adrenal and gonadal development. We now study the role of SF-1 at other levels of the hypothalamic/pituitary/gonadal axis. In Ftz-F1-disrupted mice, immunohistochemical analyses with antibodies against pituitary trophic hormones showed a selective loss of gonadotrope-specific markers, supporting the role of SF-1 in gonadotrope function. In situ hybridization analyses confirmed these results; pituitaries from Ftz-F1-disrupted mice lacked transcripts for three gonadotrope-specific markers (LH beta, FSH beta, and the receptor for gonadotropin-releasing hormone), whereas they exhibited decreased but detectable expression of the alpha-subunit of glycoprotein hormones. SF-1 transcripts in the developing mouse pituitary, which first became detectable at embryonic day 13.5-14.5, preceded the appearance of FSH beta and LH beta transcripts. In adult rat pituitary cells, SF-1 transcripts colocalized with immunoreactivity for the gonadotrope-specific LH. Finally, SF-1 interacted with a previously defined promoter element in the glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit gene, providing a possible mechanism for the impaired gonadotropin expression in Ftz-F1-disrupted mice. These studies establish novel roles of this orphan nuclear receptor in reproductive function. |
