Regulatory regions of androgen-responsive genes.

Androgens are presumed to influence gene transcription by modifying the association of the androgen receptor with specific nuclear sites. However, the details of this process are still obscure. Elucidation of the mechanisms involved is complicated by the diversity of androgen binding within targetcell nuclei and by a lack of understanding of the interaction o f androgen receptors with androgen-responsive genes, and is hampered by the unavailability as yet of androgen receptor protein purified to homogeneity. This report describes our endeavours in this area, with special reference to our studies on androgen mechanisms in rat ventral prostate and the interaction of androgen-receptor complexes with regions of the prostate binding protein (PBP) C3( 1) gene (see Parker et