Steroid-3B-OL Dehydrogenase Activity and Androgen Production in Adrenal and Interstitial-Cell Tumors of Mice. ∗ )

Summary

Steroid-3 β-ol dehydrogenase activity was measured in successive transplant generations of experimentally produced neoplasms of the adrenal cortex and testicular interstitial cells of the mouse. Different transplants varied widely in both their masculinizing effect and enzyme activity. In the adrenal tumors the concentration of this enzyme roughly paralleled the masculinizing effect of the transplant, but this was not true in the interstitial cell tumors. Androgenic activity however, was never observed in the absence of measurable 3 β-ol dehydrogenase. When compared with the sequence of reactions described in normal adrenal cortical and testicular interstitial cells the results are interpreted as indicating that the reaction catalyzed by 3 β-ol dehydrogenase may be the limiting step in androgen synthesis by the adrenal tumors but is not in the case of the testicular interstitial cell tumors.