Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042755 (masculinization)
 2,562 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Previous reports have suggested a relationship between hyperinsulinemia and increased androgen secretion leading to female virilization, but no report has been made of the effects of insulin on androgen receptors. The authors tested the in vitro effect of insulin on the binding of methyltrienolone (R1881) to androgen receptors of cultured genital skin fibroblasts preincubated with serum-free medium in the absence and presence of insulin (100 ng/mL, ie, 2600 microU/mL) for 18 hours at 37 degrees C. Insulin increased specific binding of R1881 by 35% (range, 13% to 75%). Scatchard analysis of androgen receptor binding demonstrated a similar increase in the number of binding sites, whereas binding affinity remained unchanged. The increase in androgen receptors was dose dependent (maximum effect at 25 ng insulin/mL) and time dependent (maximum effect occurring after 12 hours). DNA measurements indicated that insulin increased binding sites per cell rather than altering the cell number. Insulin increased total protein concentration to an extent similar to that observed for the increase in androgen receptor binding sites. Cycloheximide, but no actinomycin D, inhibited the effect of insulin on androgen receptor binding. The authors' data suggest that insulin induces an increase in the number of androgen receptors per cell as part of a general anabolic effect on cellular protein content.
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PMID:Binding of methyltrienolone to androgen receptors in human skin fibroblasts is enhanced by insulin. 160 43

CF-1 female mice were treated with either testosterone (T), diethylstilbestrol (DES), or methyltrienolone (R1881) on the day of birth and were subsequently tested for their responsiveness to the aggression-promoting property of androgen or estrogen during adulthood. The results showed that neonatal exposure to androgen enhanced subsequent sensitivity to androgenic stimulation but did not alter responsiveness to estrogens. Neonatal estrogen treatment established the capacity to exhibit aggression in response to estrogenic stimulation in adulthood but had little effect on responsiveness to androgens. These data indicate that the androgenic and estrogenic metabolites of T have distinct roles in masculinization of the neural substrate for aggressive behavior.
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PMID:Sexual differentiation of androgen-sensitive and estrogen-sensitive regulatory systems for aggressive behavior. 350 94

We have studied a kindred in which two parts of siblings, maternal first cousins, have a form of "minimal" androgen insensitivity that permits morphogenesis of unambiguous male external genitalia, but interferes with normal virilization at puberty. All four had gynecomastia that required reductive surgery. Apart from this common phenotype, they varied considerably in the temporal and regional aspects of their subvirilization and appreciably in their androgenic responsiveness to pharmacological doses of testosterone. The cultured genital skin fibroblasts from one set of siblings have an androgen-receptor activity with the following properties: (1) a normal maximum-binding capacity (Bmax) with 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), or the synthetic androgen, methyltrienolone (MT; R1881) as ligand; (2) a higher than normal apparent equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) for DHT (0.77 nM) but not for MT; and (3) an elevated dissociation rate (k) of DHT-receptor (0.013 min-1, 37 degrees C), but not MT-receptor, complexes within intact cells. In addition, prolonged incubation with MT, but not DHT, augments the specific androgen-binding activity of the mutant cells as much as that of the controls. Normal cells yield lower values of apparent Kd for DHT (0.1-0.3 nM) after 2- than after 0.5-hr incubation (0.3-1.8 nM), and 1-hr values are intermediate. This occurs despite concurrent catabolic consumption of DHT from the medium and is considered to reflect transformation of initial, low-affinity DHT-receptor complexes to subsequent, higher-affinity states by a process that depends on time and initial ligand concentration. The mutant complexes described here can readily attain the highest state of affinity with MT, but have an impeded, variably expressed ability to do so with DHT. These findings suggest that a structural mutation at the X-linked locus that encodes the androgen-receptor protein is responsible for its androgen-selective dysfunction. Synthetic, nonhepatotoxic androgens, with corrective effects in vitro comparable to those of MT, may be therapeutically useful for these subjects.
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PMID:Human minimal androgen insensitivity with normal dihydrotestosterone-binding capacity in cultured genital skin fibroblasts: evidence for an androgen-selective qualitative abnormality of the receptor. 633 13

We studied a family in which three brothers were born with ambiguous genitalia and had poor virilization at puberty. One patient (II-5) required less surgery to repair his hypospadias and is lean, muscular, and hairy compared to his brothers (II-1, II-2). Their adult levels of plasma testosterone (T) range from 765-2250 ng/dl. The plasma T to 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) ratios were 29 (n = 5) in patient II-1, 25 (n = 2) in patient II-2, and 14 (n = 2) in patient II-5, compared to 12 +/- 3 (SD) in normal men. The mean urinary etiocholanolone to androsterone ratios were 1.9 (n = 2) in patient II-1, 2.0 in patient II-2, and 1.3 in patient II-5, compared to 0.87 +/- 0.34 in normal men. The mean urinary ratios of 5 beta-tetrahydrocorticosterone to 5 alpha-tetrahydrocorticosterone were 0.98 (n = 2) in patient II-1, 1.25 in patient II-2, and 0.71 in patient II-5, compared to 0.53 +/- 0.22 in normal men. Genital skin fibroblasts (GSF) from patient II-1 had unusually low 5 alpha-reductase (5 alpha-R) activity (0.3 pmol/mg protein X h; n = 6), but those of patient II-5, a normal brother (II-3), and a sister (II-4; with impaired development of sexual hair) had normal values of 6.5 (n = 2), 9 (n = 3), and 9 (n = 2) pmol/mg protein X h, respectively. The maximum specific DHT receptor-binding activity (Bmax) and the rate constant of dissociation (k) of DHT-receptor complexes in the GSF from each of these individuals were normal, but the apparent equilibrium dissociation constants (Kd) for DHT were 1.16 +/- 0.28 (n = 4) in II-1, 0.39 +/- 0.20 (n = 6) in the sister, and it was 0.19 +/- 0.09 (n = 3) in the unaffected brother and 0.22 +/- 0.09 nM (n = 26) in normal men. The Bmax with the synthetic, nonmetabolizable androgen, methyltrienolone (R1881), and the k of R1881-receptor complexes were normal, but the Kd for R1881 in the GSF of II-1 was 1.4 nM (n = 2), compared to 0.16 +/- 0.05 (n = 8) in normal men, and prolonged exposure to R1881 failed to augment (up-regulate) the basal R1881-binding activity in his cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Partial androgen resistance associated with secondary 5 alpha-reductase deficiency: identification of a novel qualitative androgen receptor defect and clinical implications. 648 Aug 3

Premature stop codons of the human androgen receptor (AR) gene are usually associated with a complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. We, however, identified an adult patient with a 46,XY karyotype carrying a premature stop codon in exon 1 of the AR gene presenting with signs of partial virilization: pubic hair Tanner stage 4 and clitoral enlargement. No other family members were affected. A point mutation at codon position 172 of the AR gene was detected that replaced the original TTA (Leu) with a premature stop codon TGA (opal). Careful examination of the sequencing gel, however, also identified a wild-type allele, indicating a mosaicism. In addition, elimination of the unique AflII recognition site induced by the mutation was incomplete, thus confirming the coexistence of mutant and wild-type AR alleles in the patient. Normal R1881 binding and a normal 110/112-kDa AR doublet in Western immunoblots consolidated the molecular genetic data by demonstrating the expression of the wild-type AR in the patient's genital skin fibroblasts. Transfection analysis revealed that only relatively high plasmid concentrations carrying the mutated AR complementary DNA lead to expression of a shortened AR due to downstream reinitiation at methionine 189. Thus, reinitiation does not play a role in the presentation of the phenotype; rather, the partial virilization is caused by the expression of the wild-type AR due to a somatic mosaic. We conclude that somatic mosaicism of the AR gene can represent a substantial factor for the individual phenotype by shifting it to a higher degree of virilization than expected from the genotype of the mutant allele alone.
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PMID:Mosaicism due to a somatic mutation of the androgen receptor gene determines phenotype in androgen insensitivity syndrome. 936 May 11

It is generally assumed that male genital development is determined by androgens on a default program leading to female genitalia. Female genitalia virilization is due to high levels of androgens, whereas feminization is linked to reduction or lack of fetal androgen. Excess androgen determines sex reversion in female, whereas excess estrogen does not cause male feminization. In the present study, we investigate the presence of androgen receptors (AR) and estrogen receptors (ER) in human fetal penile tissue and in a cellular model of human fetal penile smooth muscle cells (hfPSMC). By immunohistochemistry, we showed the presence of ER and AR in the developing penile tissue of male fetuses. Besides the presence of AR, hfPSMC showed ERalpha/beta as demonstrated by RT-PCR, Western blot, and binding techniques. These receptors are functionally active because cell stimulation with 17beta-estradiol increased progesterone receptor B expression and inhibited hfPSMC growth, both effects being reversed by tamoxifen. Conversely, cell proliferation was stimulated by R1881 and testosterone, an effect enhanced by letrozole. These findings are the first demonstration of the presence of functional ER in differentiating male external genitalia and indicate a possible novel inhibitory role of estrogens in the regulation of the development of these sex structures.
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PMID:Expression of functional estrogen receptors in human fetal male external genitalia. 1267 79

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is an X-linked disease caused by mutations in the androgen receptor (AR) resulting in various degrees of defective masculinization in 46,XY individuals. In the present study, we describe a novel mutation in exon 7 of the AR gene in an Egyptian patient with partial AIS (PAIS). Sequencing analysis of the AR gene revealed a novel missense mutation, P817A, within the ligand-binding domain (LBD). This is the first report of a mutation within the short amino acid motif (codons 815-817) of the beta-strand lying between helices H8 and H9 of the AR LBD. The functional defects of the mutated protein were characterized by in vitro study and included significantly decreased ligand-binding affinity and impaired transactivation potential. Limited proteolysis assays performed with the wild-type and mutant AR receptors incubated with the synthetic agonist R1881 revealed that the P817A mutation resulted in a reduced stabilization of the AR active conformation. Structural analyses showed that this mutation is likely to perturb the beta-sheet interaction between residues 815-817 and 911-913. This structural alteration destabilizes the position of the C-terminal extension, which contains residues critical for androgen function.
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PMID:A new mutation of the androgen receptor, P817A, causing partial androgen insensitivity syndrome: in vitro and structural analysis. 1517 8

The androgen receptor (AR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor required for male sex development and virilization and contributes to prostate cancer initiation and progression. High affinity androgen binding triggers conformational changes required for AR transactivation. Here we characterized naturally occurring AR gene mutations in the region of activation function 2 (AF2) that decrease or increase AR transcriptional activity by altering the region bounded by AF2 and the ligand binding pocket without affecting equilibrium androgen binding affinity. In the androgen insensitivity syndrome, germ line AR mutations increase the androgen dissociation rate and reduce AR FXXLF motif binding and the recruitment of steroid receptor coactivator (SRC)/p160 coactivator LXXLL motifs. In prostate cancer, somatic AR mutations in AF2 or near the bound ligand slow androgen dissociation and increase AR stabilization and coactivator recruitment. Crystal structures of the AR ligand binding domain bound to R1881 and FXXLF or LXXLL motif peptide indicate the mutations are proximal to the AF2 bound peptide, adjacent to the ligand pocket, or in a putative ligand gateway. The results suggest a bidirectional structural relay between bound ligand and coactivator that establishes AR functional potency in vivo.
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PMID:Probing the functional link between androgen receptor coactivator and ligand-binding sites in prostate cancer and androgen insensitivity. 1636 32