Abstract
Glucocorticoid suppresses steroidogenesis in rat progenitor Leydig cells
Xiao,Ye-Chen; Huang,Ya-Dong; Hardy,Dianne O.; Li,Xiao-Kun; Ge,Renshan
Journal of Andrology 31(4): 365-371
Publication date: 2010
Glucocorticoid (GC) inhibits testosterone production in adultLeydig cells by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). However, whetherGC affects the development of Leydig cells is unclear. The goalof the present study is to investigate the effects of GC onsteroidogenesis of rat progenitor Leydig cells (PLCs) in vitro.Dexamethasone (DEX) inhibited androsterone (AO) production inPLCs. The GR antagonist, RU38486, reversed the DEX-induced inhibitionof AO, while the MR antagonist, RU28318, did not. RU38486 alsoreversed DEX-induced reductions in steady-state mRNA levelsof steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (Star) and 3beta-hydroxysteroiddehydrogenase 1 (Hsd3b1). StAR protein expression and 3betaHSDenzyme activity were affected similarly. These results showthat GCs inhibit steroidogenesis of PLCs by suppression of StARand 3betaHSD via GR-mediated mechanism.
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