Endocrine Abstracts

Epididymis is an androgen dependent organ with four main segments; initial segment (IS), caput, corpus and cauda. It is an essential site for post-testicular sperm maturation, as spermatozoa acquire fertilizing capacity during epididymal transit. Post-testicular maturation is dependent on the proteins expressed and secreted to the lumen by epididymal cells. Androgens regulate gene expression in epididymis in a segment-specific manner. Caput-specific genes are androgen regulate...

: Hydroxysteroid (17beta) dehydrogenase 1 (Hsd17b1) is a steroidogenic enzyme catalyzing the conversion of estrone (E1) to estradiol (E2), and androstenedione (A-dione) to testosterone (T). We have shown that the deletion of Hsd17b1 gene in mice resulted in the failure of ovarian estrogen production and subfertility. In this study, we clarified the role of Hsd17b1 in male reproduction. The data revealed that in mice Hsd17b1 mRNA is highly expressed in the Sertoli cells at the ...

The growth of prostate cancer (PCa) can be suppressed by androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, in a significant proportion of men receiving ADT PCa progresses to castration-resistant prostate cancer, associated with activation of intratumoral androgen biosynthesis and induced androgen receptor (AR) expression. Accordingly, we have recently shown that the castration-resistant VCaP (CR-VCaP) xenografts express high level of AR and retain detectable intratumoral androgen c...