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take place during pregnancy. This phenomenon is very complex and requires the presence of multiple hormones, both of endocrine and of paracrine origin. Endocrine hormones, like estrogens and progesterone, have the ability to induce the release of
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ABSTRACT
The receptor for the active metabolite of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D3, known as the vitamin D receptor (VDR), belongs to the steroid hormone nuclear receptor superfamily. We have developed novel methods for detection of VDR mRNA and protein within a human promyelomonocytic cell line, HL-60.
Using the newly developed technique of in situ-reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (IS-RT-PCR), low levels of VDR mRNA could be amplified and demonstrated unequivocally within these cells, and also within a human kidney proximal tubule cell line, CL-8. Use of a novel immunogold cytochemical technique has allowed clear and sensitive detection of VDR protein expression within the HL-60 cells.
Further development of IS-RT-PCR has allowed us to apply this technique to tissue sections. We have shown clear amplification of VDR transcripts within sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human kidney and liver.
These techniques will be useful to localise specifically the VDR within cell types that contain low levels of mRNA and protein, and will permit further investigation of the role played by 1,25(OH)2D3 in cellular regulatory mechanisms.
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ABSTRACT
The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) is a member of the steroid hormone receptor superfamily and is activated by a variety of fibrate hypolipidaemic drugs and non-genotoxic rodent hepatocarcinogens that are collectively termed peroxisome proliferators. A key marker of peroxisome proliferator action is the peroxisomal enzyme acyl CoA oxidase, which is elevated about tenfold in the livers of treated rodents. We have previously shown that a peroxisome proliferator response element (PPRE) is located 570 bp upstream of the rat peroxisomal acyl CoA oxidase gene and that PPAR binds to it. We show here that the retinoid X receptor (RXR) is required for PPAR to bind to the PPRE, and that the RXR ligand, 9-cis retinoic acid, enhances PPAR action. Retinoids may therefore modulate the action of peroxisome proliferators and PPAR may interfere with retinoid action, perhaps providing one mechanism to explain the toxicity of peroxisome proliferators. We have also shown that a variety of hypolipidaemic drugs and fatty acids can activate PPAR. This supports the suggestion that the physiological role of PPAR is to regulate fatty acid homeostasis, and provides further evidence that PPAR is the target of the fibrate class of hypolipidaemic drugs. Finally, we have demonstrated that a metabolically stabilized fatty acid is a potent PPAR activator, suggesting that fatty acids, or their acyl CoA derivatives, may be the natural ligands of PPAR.
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ABSTRACT
To investigate the inhibin-induced suppression of FSH secretion by the anterior pituitary, chronically ovariectomized heifers (three per group) were treated for 56–58 h with either steroid-free bovine follicular fluid (bFF; 8 ml i.v. every 8 h) or 0·9% (w/v) NaCl (8 ml i.v. every 8 h). Blood was withdrawn at 8-h intervals for analysis of plasma concentrations of FSH and LH by radioimmunoassay. At the end of the treatment period, heifers were slaughtered and pituitary glands recovered for determination of gonadotrophin contents and levels of mRNA encoding FSH-β, LH-β, TSH-β and common α glycoprotein hormone subunits using [32P]cDNA probes in total RNA dot and Northern blot assays. Treatment with bFF markedly suppressed plasma FSH by 85% (P<0·001 compared with pretreatment period), but did not affect plasma LH concentrations. Plasma FSH and LH concentrations did not vary significantly in the saline-injected control heifers. The level of FSH-β subunit mRNA was reduced by 60% (P<0·001) in heifers treated with bFF, whereas no significant differences between control and bFF-treated heifers were observed in the levels of mRNA encoding LH-β, TSH-β or common α subunits. Treatments with bFF, however, did not affect pituitary content of either FSH or LH.
These results support the conclusion that inhibin exerts its selective suppressive effect on the secretion of FSH by the bovine pituitary, at least in part, by directly inhibiting expression of the gene encoding the FSH-β subunit.
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ABSTRACT
The complete gene encoding the polypeptide Cl of the complex androgen-controlled prostatic binding protein was isolated from a rat genomic library. A new genomic fragment (C2B) containing only the 5′ part of a C2-related gene was also purified. The segments containing exon 1 and a large part of the adjacent sequences were analysed and compared with the corresponding region of the C2A gene which has been completely sequenced previously. The high structural similarity extending over a large part of all three genomic fragments suggests the duplication of a common ancestral gene, followed by a more recent duplication of the C2-coding region. However, since the structural similarity upstream of position − 150 between C2A and C2B abruptly disappears and no transcripts specific for the C2B region can be detected in prostate RNA, we propose that at a later stage in evolution the C2B region was disrupted and inactivated. Despite the common origin and the similar regulation of the two active genes, Cl and C2A, the only obvious conserved structural element is the homopurine stretch located at position −400, although sequence motifs resembling steroid hormone response elements are present at several locations.
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Making and breaking conjugates of sulfate with highly biologically potent steroid hormones was discussed from various angles at SUPA2017, Targeting Steroid Sulfation Pathways. This Themed Scientific Meeting was held 23–25 April 2017, at the
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The aim of our studies was to examine whether IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-4 is involved in the control of the secretion of various ovarian substances and also the mediation of the effects of several hormones and growth factors on this secretion. For this purpose, we carried out the transfection of porcine granulosa cells with a cDNA sense construct, increasing IGFBP-4 synthesis. We then compared the release of IGFBP-3, progesterone, oxytocin and IGF-I by control and transfected cells cultured with and without porcine LH (100 ng/ml), porcine GH (100 ng/ml), IGF-I (10 ng/ml), oxytocin (10 ng/ml) and estradiol-17beta (100 ng/ml). The concentration of IGFBP-4 produced was assessed using ligand blotting, and the release of progesterone, oxytocin, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 was evaluated using RIA/IRMA techniques. It was observed that GH, IGF-I, estradiol, LH and oxytocin alter the progesterone, oxytocin, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 release by porcine ovarian granulosa cells. Transfection of these cells with an IBFBP-4 cDNA expression construct significantly increased the IGFBP-4 accumulation in cell-conditioned medium. Furthermore, this transfection significantly reduced progesterone, oxytocin and IGFBP-3 release, and increased IGF-I output in cells cultured in the absence or presence of GH, IGF-I, estradiol and LH. The addition of oxytocin, but not of other tested substances, fully or partially prevented the effects of IGFBP-4 overexpression on IGFBP-3, IGF-I, but not on progesterone release. The present results suggested that IGFBP-4, as well as GH, IGF-I, estradiol, LH and oxytocin, is a potent regulator of porcine ovarian steroid (progesterone), nonapeptide hormone (oxytocin), growth factor (IGF-I) and growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP-3) release. IGFBP-4 is an inhibitor of basal progesterone, oxytocin and IGFBP-3 release and a stimulator of IGF-I output by porcine ovarian cells. The action of IGFBP-4 on the ovary can be mediated by (1) inhibition of oxytocin release, (2) suppression of receptor/postreceptor events induced by other hormones and IGF-I and (3) stimulation of IGF-I release.
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Memories of the discovery of steroid receptors The nuclear receptor (NR) field grew out of studies primarily of estrogen, progesterone, and glucocorticoid steroid hormones. The first indication for the potential existence of a steroid receptor
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ABSTRACT
The effect of castration and gonadal steroid replacement on the concentrations of LH-β and α subunit and prolactin mRNA was examined in mice.
Mouse LH-β, α and prolactin mRNAs were approximately 0·8, 0·7 and 1·1 kb in size respectively. After ovariectomy, LH-β mRNA levels increased 2- to 2·5-fold, while α mRNA levels increased 2·5-fold 6 and 10 days after ovariectomy. Serum LH rose after 2 days to reach six times control values at 10 days. Pituitary LH content doubled by 8 days after ovariectomy. Prolactin mRNA levels decreased to 50–60% of control at 3, 6, 8 and 10 days after ovariectomy and parallelled the fall in serum prolaction. Pituitary prolactin content fell more slowly, to 50% of intact control values by 10 days. The increase in both LH-β and α subunit mRNA, and decrease in prolactin mRNA, and serum and pituitary hormone changes, after ovariectomy were prevented by oestradiol or oestradiol plus progesterone replacement.
Levels of LH-β mRNA increased more quickly in male than in female mice, theearliest change being seen 24 h after orchidectomy. Maximum values (two- to threefold) were found on day 6 after orchidectomy. Concentrations of α mRNA increased by 12 h to between 2 and 2·5 times control from 3 to 10 days after orchidectomy. Serum LH doubled by 12 h and was three to five times greater than control values up to 10 days. Pituitary LH content fell by 48 h before gradually increasing to intact values after 10 days. Prolactin mRNA levels decreased progressively from 2 days after orchidectomy, and this decrease was preceded by a fall in serum and pituitary prolactin which remained low throughout the experiment. Testosterone treatment attenuated the rise in α mRNA, prevented the rise in LH-β mRNA and serum LH and partially restored the decrease in prolactin mRNA seen after orchidectomy.
We conclude that in mice, as in rats and ewes, both LH-β and α subunit mRNAs are negatively regulated by gonadal steroids, whereas prolactin mRNA is positively regulated, although there are temporal differences in patterns of mRNA responses between males and females. By comparison with female rats the rise in LH-β mRNA after ovariectomy was slower in mice. Moreover, the discordant changes in pituitary LH content and LH subunit mRNAs seen in mice after castration were not observed in rats. Furthermore, pituitary prolactin and prolactin mRNA do not fall after orchidectomy of rats. The modest (50%) increase of LH-β mRNA after castration of mice suggests that an increase in mRNA is not necessarily required for increased LH production.
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The oxidation and isomerization of 3beta-hydroxy-5-ene steroids into keto-4-ene steroids, a pivotal step in the synthesis of all hormonal steroids, is catalyzed by several isoforms of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. In humans, two highly homologous isoforms exist, type I expressed by the HSD3B1 gene in peripheral tissues, and type II expressed by the HSD3B2 gene in steroidogenic organs. Previously, it was shown that the HSD3B1 gene 3beta1-A element, encompassing 24 nucleotides of intron 1 not perfectly conserved between the two genes and overlapping with a conserved TG box, contributes to maximal basal promoter activity by binding the ubiquitous and unidentified 3beta1-A transcription factor. In this study for the first time we report that similarly, the HSD3B2 gene intron 1 is required for maximal basal promoter activity in reporter gene analyses, as lack of intron 1 results in a 4- to 10-fold reduction in promoter activity. Mutational analysis in gel shift assays revealed that the 3beta1-A factor binds both the HSD3B2 and HSD3B1 gene intron 1 by requiring only seven nucleotides of a conserved segment within the 3beta1-A element. By competition analysis and use of anti-YY1 antibody in both gel shift and Western blot experiments, we identified the 3beta1-A protein as the ubiquitous transcription factor YY1. In addition, we have characterized another similar YY1 binding site differently located with respect to the 3beta1-A element in both genes. Deletion and mutational analysis in transient transfections experiments revealed that contrarily to as previously shown for the HSD3B1 gene, lack of YY1 binding to the type II 3beta1-A element only results in a marginal reduction of basal promoter activity. Instead, YY1 binding to the second site, placed 35 bp downstream from the 3beta1-A element, strongly activates the HSD3B2 gene basal promoter activity, as preventing YY1 binding to this region caused a 50% decrease of basal transcription. Complete abrogation of YY1 binding within type II intron 1 resulted in a gene reporter activity identical to a reporter construct lacking the whole intron 1. These results designate YY1 as the factor responsible for the intron 1-mediated boost of the HSD3B2 gene basal promoter activity. Similarities and dissimilarities between YY1 binding within the HSD3B1 and HSD3B2 gene intron 1 are discussed involving the conserved intron 1 TG box, that suggests different mechanisms are implicated in the YY1-mediated stimulation of these two genes basal promoter activity.
