Journal ArticleDOI
StAR Protein and the Regulation of Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis
TLDR
The tertiary structure of the START domain of a StAR homolog has been solved, and identification of a cholesterol-binding hydrophobic tunnel within this domain raises the possibility that StAR acts as aolesterol-shuttling protein.Abstract:
Steroid hormone biosynthesis is acutely regulated by pituitary trophic hormones and other steroidogenic stimuli. This regulation requires the synthesis of a protein whose function is to translocate cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane in steroidogenic cells, the rate-limiting step in steroid hormone formation. The steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein is an indispensable component in this process and is the best candidate to fill the role of the putative regulator. StAR is expressed in steroidogenic tissues in response to agents that stimulate steroid production, and mutations in the StAR gene result in the disease congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia, in which steroid hormone biosynthesis is severely compromised. The StAR null mouse has a phenotype that is essentially identical to the human disease. The positive and negative expression of StAR is sensitive to agents that increase and inhibit steroid biosynthesis respectively. The mechanism by which StAR mediates cholesterol transfer in the mitochondria has not been fully characterized. However, the tertiary structure of the START domain of a StAR homolog has been solved, and identification of a cholesterol-binding hydrophobic tunnel within this domain raises the possibility that StAR acts as a cholesterol-shuttling protein.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Enzymes, Regulation, and Genetics of Bile Acid Synthesis
TL;DR: The synthesis and excretion of bile acids comprise the major pathway of cholesterol catabolism in mammals and causes a spectrum of human disease; this ranges from liver failure in early childhood to progressive neuropathy in adults.
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Localized Effects of cAMP Mediated by Distinct Routes of Protein Kinase A
TL;DR: Targeting of PKA and integration of a wide repertoire of proteins involved in signal transduction into complex signal networks further increase the specificity required for the precise regulation of numerous cellular and physiological processes.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Molecular Control of Corpus Luteum Formation, Function, and Regression
TL;DR: The generation of transgenic, knockout and knockin mice and the development of innovative technologies have revealed a novel role of several molecules in the reprogramming of granulosa cells into luteal cells and in the hormonal and molecular control of the function and demise of the CL.
Journal ArticleDOI
Multiple Signaling Pathways Regulating Steroidogenesis and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein Expression: More Complicated than We Thought
TL;DR: The current understanding of additional signaling pathways and factors capable of regulating/modulating steroid hormone biosynthesis, and in many cases steroidogenic acute regulatory protein expression, are discussed in this review.
Journal ArticleDOI
The circadian rhythm of glucocorticoids is regulated by a gating mechanism residing in the adrenal cortical clock
Henrik Oster,Sebastian Damerow,Sebastian Damerow,Silke Kiessling,Vladimira Jakubcakova,Diya Abraham,Jiong Tian,Matthias W. Hoffmann,Gregor Eichele +8 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the clock gene expression was detected in the outer adrenal cortex prefiguring a role of the clock in regulating gluco-and mineral corticoid biogenesis.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Steroid Hormone Metabolites are Barbiturate-Like Modulators of the GABA Receptor
Maria Dorota Majewska,Neil L. Harrison,Rochelle D. Schwartz,Jeffery L. Barker,Steven M. Paul +4 more
TL;DR: Two metabolites of the steroid hormones progesterone and deoxycorticosterone are potent barbiturate-like ligands of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor-chloride ion channel complex and potentiated the inhibitory actions of GABA in cultured rat hippocampal and spinal cord neurons, which may explain the ability of certain steroid hormones to rapidly alter neuronal excitability.
Journal ArticleDOI
Molecular Biology of Steroid Hormone Synthesis
TL;DR: Five groups of steroid hormones are generally recognized according to their physiological behavior: mineralocorticoids, which instruct the renal tubules to retain sodium; glucocortics, which are named for their carbohydratemobilizing properties but have many other effects as well; estrogens, which induce female secondary sexual characteristics; progestins, which is essential for reproduction; and androgens, who induce male secondarySexual characteristics.
Journal ArticleDOI
The purification, cloning, and expression of a novel luteinizing hormone-induced mitochondrial protein in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells. Characterization of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR).
TL;DR: It is demonstrated for the first time that expression of the protein in MA-10 cells in the absence of hormone stimulation is sufficient to induce steroid production and it is proposed that this protein is required in the acute regulation of steroidogenesis.
Journal ArticleDOI
Regulation of the acute production of steroids in steroidogenic cells.
TL;DR: This chapter will focus on studies designed to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the acute regulation of steroid production in response to hormone stimulation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Role of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein in adrenal and gonadal steroidogenesis.
Dong Lin,Teruo Sugawara,Jerome F. Strauss,Barbara J. Clark,Douglas M. Stocco,Paul Saenger,Alan D. Rogol,Walter L. Miller +7 more
TL;DR: In three unrelated individuals with this disorder, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, which enhances the mitochondrial conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone, was mutated and nonfunctional, providing genetic evidence that this protein is indispensable normal adrenal and gonadal steroidogenesis.
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