THE AROMATIZATION OF ANDROGENS BY PRIMARY MONOLAYER CULTURES OF FETAL RAT HYPOTHALAMUS

Abstract

Aromatization of [3H]androstenedione and [3H]19-hydroxyandrostenedione to [3H]estrone was demonstrated to occur in 1-2 wk old primary monolayer cultures of fetal rat hypothalamus. Three times more estrone is produced from 19-hydroxyandrostenedione that from androstenedione in 4 day incubations. Cultures treated with cytosine arabinoside have 50% less cellular protein and produce 3 times more estrone from either substrate than untreated cultures. Time course experiments using cultures treated with cytosine arabinoside indicate that aromatization of 19-hydroxyandrostenedione is linear for 3 days and can be quantitatively measured within the first 2-8 h of incubation.