Developmental expression of @entity291 adrenocortical steroid hydroxylases. Regulation of P-450(17 alpha) expression leads to episodic fetal XXXX production.

@entity30438 @entity21767 @entity134 @entity701 @entity3317 @entity291
The developmental expression of adrenocortical steroid hydroxylases was studied in @entity291 fetuses from 40 to 280 days gestational age. The expression of P-450(17 alpha) is first detected at a gestational age of 50 days and reaches a maximum at 60-70 days. The expression of P-450(17 alpha) then declines and is nondetectable at a gestational age of 100 days. P-450(17 alpha) is not expressed again until about 240 days, i.e. shortly before birth (approximately 280 days). @entity21767 , @entity30438 , P-450(11 beta) and adrenodoxin were present in fetal adrenals throughout gestation. This "on-off-on" pattern of P-450(17 alpha) expression during fetal development was associated with a corresponding episodic production of @entity701 . Immunoreactive @entity3317 (ACTH) levels in fetal plasma were elevated in small fetuses (corresponding to less than or equal to 100 days) and in near-term fetuses (corresponding to greater than 250 days) compared with those in mid-gestation fetuses. In primary culture, adrenal cells from mid-gestation fetuses contained no detectable P-450(17 alpha) but rapidly responded to ACTH with an increase in P-450(17 alpha) protein and mRNA. The tissue specificity of the developmental patterns is emphasized by the fact that both P-450(17 alpha) and @entity21767 were detectable throughout the development of the fetal testes, whereas only @entity21767 was detectable in fetal @entity291 ovary prior to 200 days. Thus, in fetal @entity291 adrenal it appears that ACTH is the major regulatory factor effecting the intermittent presence of P-450(17 alpha), whereas the presence of the other @entity134 hydroxylases is either regulated by additional factors or shows a much different sensitivity to ACTH.
