ANDROGEN ON PROSTATE BIOSYNTHETIC REACTIONS1

Abstract

The object of this study is to find where and how androgens effect and maintain prostatic growth (protein synthesis) in vitro. It is shown that the site of action is not the metabolism of citric acid since this material does not accumulate remarkably within the cell. The finding that the rates of not only citric acid synthesis but also of fatty acid and protein production are greater in glands from intact than castrate animals and the additional discovery that the syntheses of fatty acid and protein are stimulated by 10^-7 M testosterone have evoked the proposal that the hormone facilitates activation of acyl residues by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the first step in all three biosynthetic activities. In support of this it was found that the synthesis of fatty acids from pyruvate, which does not require ATP for its activation, is insensitive to 10^-1 M testosterone.