Progenitor Leydig cells are derived from stem cells. The proliferation and differentiation of progenitor Leydig cells significantly contributes to Leydig cell number during puberty. However, the regulation of these processes remains unclear. The objective of the present study was to determine whether luteinizing hormone (LH) or androgen contributes to the proliferation and differentiation of pr...

The transition from preantral to early antral stage is the penultimate stage of ovarian follicular development in terms of gonadotropin dependence and follicle destiny. Although oocyte-somatic cell communication is important in early follicular development, our knowledge of the precise role of the oocyte-derived growth differentiation factor (GDF)-9 during preantral follicle growth is incomplet...

Non-aromatizable androgens have significant beneficial effects on skeletal homeostasis independently of conversion to estradiol, but the effects of androgens on bone cell metabolism and cell proliferation are still poorly understood. Using an osteoblastic model with enhanced androgen responsiveness, MC3T3-E1 cells stably transfected with androgen receptor (AR) under the control of the type I co...

Rapid modulation of hippocampal synaptic plasticity by locally synthesized androgen is important in addition to circulating androgen. Here, we investigated the rapid changes of dendritic spines in response to the elevation of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T), by using hippocampal slices from adult male rats, in order to clarify whether these signaling processes include synaptic/ex...

Mouse CYP2J5 is abundant in kidney and active in the metabolism of arachidonic acid to epoxyeicosatrienoic acids. Western blots of microsomes prepared from mouse kidneys demonstrate that after puberty, CYP2J5 protein is present at higher levels in male mice than in female mice. Northern analysis reveals that CYP2J5 transcripts are more abundant in adult male versus female kidneys, indicating th...

background the gonadectomy in patients with androgen insensitivity syndrome (ais) has been conventionally performed using laparotomic techniques. but currently several reports have suggested laparoscopic gonadectomy in these patients because of shorter hospital stay and minimal postoperative pain and hemorrhage. objective to report the laparoscopic gonadectomy in 11 patients suffering from andr...

BACKGROUND Male sex is an independent risk factor for the extent and severity of atherosclerosis. The influence of androgens on foam cell formation, a key event in atherogenesis, has not yet been investigated. METHODS AND RESULTS Primary human monocytes were allowed to differentiate into macrophages. RNA was then extracted from healthy male-donor (n=8) and premenopausal female-donor (n=8) mac...

Munich Wistar Frömter (MWF) rats develop spontaneous albuminuria that is linked to autosomal genetic loci and inherit a nephron deficit in both female and male animals, respectively. However, albuminuria and kidney damage are clearly more pronounced in males. Here we tested whether androgens and the androgen receptor influence albuminuria in male MWF. We first demonstrated in a pilot study that...

Ca(2+) and calmodulin (CaM) play a critical role in proliferation and viability of a wide variety of cells, including prostate cancer cells. We examined two prostate cancer cell lines, androgen-sensitive LNCaP and androgen-independent PC-3. Proliferation of LNCaP cells was six to eight times more sensitive to the inhibitory effect of the CaM antagonist N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesul...

The receptor mechanism of testosterone-induced nongenomic Ca2+ signaling in prostate cancer cells is poorly understood. In this study we investigated androgen-induced intracellular Ca2+ increases in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells with Fura-2 as a Ca2+ probe. 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) produced fast and transient increases in intracellular Ca2+ in LNCaP cells in a concentration-dependen...