A POSSIBLE MECHANISM OF REGULATION OF RAT PROSTATE FUNCTION BY TESTOSTERONE

1. 1. The hypothesis that testosterone stimulates cation transport in the rat ventral prostate was tested. 2. 2. Uptake K+ by minced prostate tissue was significantly stimulated by testosterone (10-7 M) and inhibited by ouabain (0.5 mM). The androgen was not effective on liver mince or kidney cortex slices. 3. 3. Brief (15 min) pretreatment of prostate microsomes with various concentrations of testosterone (10-8-10-6 M) showed that the steroid maximally stimulated Na++K+)-dependent, ouabain-sensitive ATPase, but not Mg2+-dependent, (Na++K+)-independent ATPase. Analogues of testosterone including 19-nortestosterone, 17β-hydroxyl-5α- and 5β-androstan-3-one and 3α-hydroxy-5α- and 5β-androstan-17-one were ineffective to slightly inhibitory. 4. 4. It is suggested that the elements of the plasma membrane which, on hormonal stimulation, cause accelerated sodium pump activity may be the hypothetical receptors regulating prostatic growth and function; that this regulation is attributable to the metabolic pace-setting action of the Na+-pump apparatus. © 1968.