Depletion of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors after hypophysectomy in rat adrenal gland and testis

https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-2999(85)90026-3Get rights and content

Abstract

We examined the effect of hypophysectomy in rats on peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors in the adrenal gland and testis. Following removal of the pituitary, binding sites for [3H]Ro5-4864, a ligand selective for peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors, are depleted in these tissues in parallel with their atrophy. This reduction in receptor levels appears to be a primary effect of the hypophysectomy, since castration has no effect on benzodiazepine receptors in the adrenal gland, nor does adrenalectomy influence testicular levels of these receptors. Our results indicate that peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors in these steroidogenic organs are localized to cells which are dependent on trophic maintenance by the pituitary.

References (22)

  • E.B. De Souza et al.

    Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors in endocrine organs: autoradiographic localization in rat pituitary, adrenal and testis

    Endocrinology

    (1985)
  • Cited by (106)

    • Functional TSPO polymorphism predicts variance in the diurnal cortisol rhythm in bipolar disorder

      2018, Psychoneuroendocrinology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Heritable factors underlying HPA dysregulation in BD may involve mechanisms regulating steroid production. A key outer mitochondrial membrane protein, the translocator protein (18 kDa; TSPO), formerly known as the peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (i.e. PBR) (Braestrup and Squires, 1977; Papadopoulos et al., 2006), is a rate limiting factor in steroid synthesis (Anholt et al., 1985; Lacapere and Papadopoulos, 2003; Lucki et al., 2012). The TSPO provides a binding site for cytoplasmic cholesterol on the interface between the fifth transmembrane domain and the cytosol facing C-terminus.

    • Lost in translocation: The functions of the 18-kD translocator protein

      2015, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism
      Citation Excerpt :

      The evolutionarily conserved TSPO (see Glossary), previously named the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), is an abundant protein found in many organs but with particularly high constitutive expression in steroidogenic tissue, including adrenal glands, gonads, placenta, and activated brain microglia [1–3]. The anatomical distribution of TSPO expression, and the early discovery that TSPO is a high-affinity binding protein of cholesterol that resides in the outer mitochondrial membrane, established an exciting link between cholesterol transport and the biosynthesis of steroids, including neurosteroids [1,4,5]. Since these initial landmark findings, a large body of evidence has gradually defined TSPO as an essential component of cholesterol transport across the mitochondrial membrane, which came to be understood as a rate-limiting step of steroid hormone production [6–9].

    • Translocator protein-mediated pharmacology of cholesterol transport and steroidogenesis

      2015, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The identification of diazepam binding sites in the kidney in 1977 initiated the search for a peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (Braestrup and Squires, 1977), later renamed TSPO (Papadopoulos et al., 2006). Snyder and his colleagues demonstrated the wide distribution of TSPO throughout the body (Anholt et al., 1985), its expression in particularly high levels in steroid-producing cells of the adrenal and testis (De Souza et al., 1985), and its localization at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) (Anholt et al., 1986). The large body of work generated by Gavish and colleagues, as well as other groups, demonstrated the multiple roles of this protein in mitochondrial and cell function in various tissues (Gavish et al., 1999; Papadopoulos et al., 2006; Veenman and Gavish, 2006).

    • Cloning and expression of the translocator protein (18kDa), voltage-dependent anion channel, and diazepam binding inhibitor in the gonad of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) across the reproductive cycle

      2011, General and Comparative Endocrinology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Vdac2 is expressed and translated in mammalian spermatocytes and spermatids, and the protein can be found in mature spermatozoa [37]. While studies suggest that Tspo protein is primarily found in Leydig cells of the mammalian testis [1,8,19], expression of tspo in male germline cells has not been described in detail. The observed increases in MCT gene expression may also be due to proliferation of Leydig cells during reproductive maturation rather than increases in transcript abundance on a per-cell basis.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text