Regulation of androgen synthesis: the late steroidogenic pathway

Studies of the regulation of androgen synthesis in steroidogenic cells have focused on both transcriptional and post-translational regulation of the proteins that catalyze these reactions: the P450c17 that catalyzes the production of DHEA or androstenedione in consecutive hydroxylase and lyase activities, and the 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17 beta-HSD) that catalyzes the conversion of androstenedione to testosterone. Our studies of the regulation of the CYP17 lyase activity at the molecular level have utilized species- and tissue-specific differences to identify target regulatory sequences. Adenovirus infection of rat CYP17 promoter/luciferase reporter gene constructs in primary cultures of rat adrenal and rat Leydig cells revealed a rat-specific domain between-1 and -108 bp that cause inhibition of both basal and cAMP-induced CYP17 transcription in the adrenal, but not the Leydig cell. In contrast, similar promoter constructs from other species exhibited substantial cAMP-induced transcriptional activity in the rat adrenal. Mutagenesis of the conserved region of the rat and human proteins reveals significant differences in the amino acid domains required for hydroxylase and lyase activities within and between the two species, consistent with their differential regulation of lyase activity. The 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17 beta-HSD) reaction requires a viable glucose transporter system for optimal activity, and a high-energy phosphate was discovered to be the requisite product of glucose metabolism in 17 beta-HSD activation. These studies have provided insight into potential mechanisms of control of androgen synthesis in the late steroidogenic pathway, at the transcriptional and post-translational levels.