Abstract
Western blot analyses of various hamster tissues reveal high levels of expression of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) in adrenal and liver, and moderate levels of expression in kidney. The expression in liver is sexually dimorphic; very high levels of protein are observed in adult male liver but very low levels are seen in the female liver. Three distinct cDNAs encoding isoforms of 3β-HSD were isolated from hamster cDNA libraries. The type 1 isoform is a high-affinity dehydrogenase/isomerase expressed in adrenal and male kidney. The type 2 isoform is also a high-affinity dehydrogenase/isomerase expressed in kidney and male liver. The type 3 enzyme is a 3-ketosteroid reductase expressed predominantly in kidney. Sequencing of the clones showed that all three are structurally very similar, although types 1 and 2 share the greatest degree of similarity. Immunohistochemical staining for 3β-HSD in the adrenal was found throughout the adrenal cortex. In the kidney staining was confined to tubules, and in the liver, heavy staining was found in hepatocytes. The cloning of cDNAs for 3β-HSD from the liver and kidney should help in elucidating the function of this enzyme in these tissues.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 99-110 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of molecular endocrinology |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1998 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Endocrinology