The progesterone receptor ( PR) and its coactivators and corepressors play an important role in female reproductive function. To investigate the functional interactions between PR and steroid receptor coactivators ( SRCs) required for regulation of gene transcription in vivo, we crossed PR activity indicator ( PRAI) mice with SRC-1((+/-)) and SRC3-((+/-)) mice to generate bigenic mice, PRAI-SRC1((-/-)) and PRAI-SRC-3((-/-)). In the mammary gland, PR activity in the luminal epithelium of both wildtype and SRC-1((-/-)) mice was induced by estrogen + progesterone treatment. In contrast, an increase in PR activity in the luminal epithelium was not detected in SRC-3((-/-)) mice with the same treatment. In the uterus, PR activity in the stroma compartment of both wild-type and SRC-3((-/-)) mice was induced by estrogen + progesterone treatment. However, the increased PR activity was not detected in SRC-1((-/-)) mice. Taken together, our data indicate that the endogenous physiological function of PR in distinct tissues is modulated by different steroid receptor coregulators. SRC-3 is the primary coactivator for PR in breast and SRC-1 is the primary coactivator for PR in uterus.