Steroid biosynthesis

About: Steroid biosynthesis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1721 publications have been published within this topic receiving 58977 citations.

Effect of acute aldosterone administration on gene expression profile in the heart.

Abstract: Aldosterone is known to have a number of direct adverse effects on the heart, including fibrosis and myocardial inflammation. However, genetic mechanisms of aldosterone action on the heart remain unclear. This paper describes an investigation of temporal changes in gene expression profile of the whole heart induced by acute administration of a physiologic dose of aldosterone in the mouse. mRNA levels of 34,000 known mouse genes were measured at eight time points after aldosterone administration using oligonucleotide microarrays and compared with those of the control animals who underwent a sham injection. A novel software tool (CAGED) designed for analysis of temporal microarray experiments using a Bayesian approach was used to identify genes differentially expressed between the aldosterone-injected and control group. CAGED analysis identified 12 genes as having significant differences in their temporal profiles between aldosterone-injected and control groups. All of these genes exhibited a decrease in expression level 1-3 h after aldosterone injection followed by a brief rebound and a return to baseline. These findings were validated by quantitative RT-PCR. The differentially expressed genes included phosphatases, regulators of steroid biosynthesis, inactivators of reactive oxygen species, and structural proteins. Several of these genes are known to functionally mediate biochemical phenomena previously observed to be triggered by aldosterone administration, such as phosphorylation of ERK1/2. These results provide the first description of cardiac genetic response to aldosterone and identify several potential mediators of known biochemical sequelae of aldosterone administration in the heart.

Different Transcriptional Control of Metabolism and Extracellular Matrix in Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat of Obese and Rimonabant Treated Mice

Abstract: Background: The visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SCAT) adipose tissues play different roles in physiology and obesity. The molecular mechanisms underlying their expansion in obesity and following body weight reduction are poorly defined. Methodology: C57Bl/6 mice fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 6 months developed low, medium, or high body weight as compared to normal chow fed mice. Mice from each groups were then treated with the cannabinoid receptor 1 antagonist rimonabant or vehicle for 24 days to normalize their body weight. Transcriptomic data for visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues from each group of mice were obtained and analyzed to identify: i) genes regulated by HFD irrespective of body weight, ii) genes whose expression correlated with body weight, iii) the biological processes activated in each tissue using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), iv) the transcriptional programs affected by rimonabant. Principal Findings: In VAT, ‘‘metabolic’’ genes encoding enzymes for lipid and steroid biosynthesis and glucose catabolism were down-regulated irrespective of body weight whereas ‘‘structure’’ genes controlling cell architecture and tissue remodeling had expression levels correlated with body weight. In SCAT, the identified ‘‘metabolic’’ and ‘‘structure’’ genes were mostly different from those identified in VAT and were regulated irrespective of body weight. GSEA indicated active adipogenesis in both tissues but a more prominent involvement of tissue stroma in VAT than in SCAT. Rimonabant treatment normalized most gene expression but further reduced oxidative phosphorylation gene expression in SCAT but not in VAT. Conclusion: VAT and SCAT show strikingly different gene expression programs in response to high fat diet and rimonabant treatment. Our results may lead to identification of therapeutic targets acting on specific fat depots to control obesity.

Inborn errors of steroid biosynthesis: detection by a new mass-spectrometric method.

Abstract: A new mass-spectrometric technique relies on ionization during bombardment of the analyte (dissolved in a liquid matrix, usually glycerol) by an atom beam (e.g., Ar0, Xe0). This technique, termed "fast atom bombardment," is particularly useful in the characterization of polar charged molecules. A neutral beam is not essential, and a primary beam of cesium ions has been successfully used to produce spectra equivalent to those obtained by fast atom bombardment. In this communication I report data on the use of both ion and atom primary beams for producing secondary-ion mass spectra of conjugated steroids. In negative-ion spectra produced for steroid glucuronides and sulfates, the ion [M - H]- is invariably the major high-mass peak, and the lack of substantial fragmentation allows assay of relatively complex mixtures if the analytes differ in mass. I describe here the use of secondary-ion mass spectrometry for distinguishing, by urinary steroid analysis, patients with the four enzyme defects that can affect cortisol synthesis: defects in 17 alpha-hydroxylase, 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase, 21-hydroxylase, and 11 beta-hydroxylase.

Mechanism of the inhibitory action of RU486 on the secondary follicle-stimulating hormone surge.

Abstract: Recent evidence utilizing RU486 has implicated progesterone (P) and glucocorticoids, in addition to a drop in serum inhibin, in the development of the secondary FSH surge on the morning of estrus. To assess the role of these steroids, we treated proestrous female rats with the antiprogestin/antiglucocorticoid RU486 (6 mg/kg sc) at 1230 h, and with dexamethasone (dex; 8.4 or 16.2 mg/kg sc), or with the steroid biosynthesis inhibitor aminoglutethimide (AG; 150 mg/kg ip) at 1030 h, alone or in combination with RU486. The effects of these treatments on uterine ballooning and intraluminal fluid content (an index of P action), ovulation, and serum levels of P, corticosterone (B), FSH, LH, and inhibin-alpha at 1830 h proestrus and 0900 h estrus were examined. In accord with previous work from our laboratory, RU 486 caused uterine intraluminal fluid retention on the morning of estrus and significantly suppressed the preovulatory surges of both FSH and LH, and the secondary surge of FSH without affecting the fall in inhibin-alpha. Treatment with dex alone raised serum FSH at both 1830 h proestrus and 0900 h estrus, coincident with suppression of serum inhibin-alpha. When administered in combination with RU486, dex partially reversed the increased uterine intraluminal fluid retention at 0900 h estrus, but did not modify the inhibitory effect of RU486 on the primary gonadotropin surges or the secondary surge of FSH. AG alone significantly suppressed serum P, B, and gonadotropins (LH to a greater extent than FSH) at 1830 h proestrus and blocked ovulation and uterine intraluminal fluid release at 0900 h estrus; it did not, however, suppress the secondary FSH surge or prevent the fall in serum inhibin-alpha. When administered 2 h before RU486, AG did not prevent the RU486-induced inhibition of the primary gonadotropin surges or the secondary FSH surge. We conclude from these results that development of the secondary FSH surge does not require P or glucocorticoid action and that RU486 suppression of the secondary FSH surge does not involve blockade of binding of these steroids to their receptors. Our data are compatible with ligand-independent activation of the P receptor, susceptible to blockade by RU486, as the mechanism underlying the enhanced secretion of FSH from the gonadotrope on the morning of estrus.