ANDROGEN RECEPTOR IN THE RAT-BRAIN - ASSAYS AND PROPERTIES

The existence and relevance of an androgen receptor in the developing brain has been a matter of controversy. We here describe both sucrose density gradient and hydroxylapatite assays which clearly define a distincy androgen receptor in the 24-day-old rat hypothalamus, amygdala and preoptic region, but not in the cortex. This receptor has considerable affinity for estradiol-17ß, thus perhaps accounting for some uncertainty about its nature, but none for diethylstilbestrol or other estrogens, antiestrogens or glucocorticoids. Its Kd for both dihydrotestosterone and testosterone is about 1 × 10-9 M and for estradiol about 2 × 10-8 M. Its properties are generally consistent with those of androgen receptor reported for other tissues. © 1979.