TY - JOUR
T1 - High abundance of testosterone and salivary androgen-binding protein in the lateral nasal gland of male mice
AU - Zhou, Xin
AU - Zhang, Xiuling
AU - Weng, Yan
AU - Fang, Cheng
AU - Kaminsky, Laurence
AU - Ding, Xinxin
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of Wadsworth Center's Molecular Genetics Core facility. We thank Dr. Adriana Verschoor for reading the manuscript and Ms. Weizhu Yang for technical assistance. We are grateful to Dr. Robert Karn of the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, for providing the anti-sABP antibody. This work was supported in part by grant ES007462 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2009/10
Y1 - 2009/10
N2 - To better understand androgen function in the mammalian nose, we have determined the levels of testosterone (T) in the olfactory mucosa (OM, which harbors the olfactory receptor neurons) and the lateral nasal gland (LNG, which is the largest anterior nasal gland) of C57BL/6 mice. The results indicated that, in adult male mice, T levels in the LNG were substantially higher than those in the OM and other non-reproductive or non-endocrine tissues examined, including liver, kidney, and brain. Furthermore, in the LNG, the high T levels were accompanied by high levels of salivary androgen-binding protein (sABP) and low microsomal T-hydroxylase activities. The high abundance of T and sABP in the LNG suggests not only that the LNG is a storage site for androgen, but also the possibility that unusually high T levels may occur in other organs that have abundant expression of sABP but low expression of steroid-metabolizing enzymes. Our findings suggest a critical need to determine androgen levels in various organs, as well as to establish the functional significance of an unusually high T level in the LNG, a gland known for its secretion of biologically active molecules, such as odorant binding proteins and immunoglobulin A, to the nasal cavity.
AB - To better understand androgen function in the mammalian nose, we have determined the levels of testosterone (T) in the olfactory mucosa (OM, which harbors the olfactory receptor neurons) and the lateral nasal gland (LNG, which is the largest anterior nasal gland) of C57BL/6 mice. The results indicated that, in adult male mice, T levels in the LNG were substantially higher than those in the OM and other non-reproductive or non-endocrine tissues examined, including liver, kidney, and brain. Furthermore, in the LNG, the high T levels were accompanied by high levels of salivary androgen-binding protein (sABP) and low microsomal T-hydroxylase activities. The high abundance of T and sABP in the LNG suggests not only that the LNG is a storage site for androgen, but also the possibility that unusually high T levels may occur in other organs that have abundant expression of sABP but low expression of steroid-metabolizing enzymes. Our findings suggest a critical need to determine androgen levels in various organs, as well as to establish the functional significance of an unusually high T level in the LNG, a gland known for its secretion of biologically active molecules, such as odorant binding proteins and immunoglobulin A, to the nasal cavity.
KW - Lateral nasal gland
KW - Metabolism
KW - Olfactory mucosa
KW - P450
KW - Salivary androgen-binding protein
KW - Testosterone
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2009.06.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2009.06.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 19524040
AN - SCOPUS:70249110745
SN - 0960-0760
VL - 117
SP - 81
EP - 86
JO - Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
JF - Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
IS - 1-3
ER -