title: Effects of amphetamine on steroidogenesis in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells.
abstract: Amphetamine influences plasma and testicular testosterone levels. However, there is no evidence that amphetamine can directly influence Leydig cell functions. In the present study, a MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cell line was used to determine whether and how amphetamine affected Leydig cell steroidogenesis. MA-10 cells were treated with different concentrations of amphetamine without or with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and/or enzyme precursors over different time durations. Steroid production, enzyme activities and StAR protein expression were determined. Amphetamine alone had no any effect on MA-10 cell steroidogenesis. However, amphetamine (10(-11)M and 10(-10)M) significantly enhanced hCG-treated progesterone production at 3 hr in MA-10 cells (p < 0.05). Furthermore, amphetamine significantly induced more progesterone production upon treatment with 22R-hydroxycholesterol (p < 0.05), a precursor of P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc). However, amphetamine did not induce more progesterone production when treated with pregnenolone (p > 0.05), a precursor of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. In addition, the expressions of StAR protein and P450scc enzyme were not significantly different between hCG alone and hCG plus amphetamine treatment in MA-10 cells (p > 0.05). These results suggested that amphetamine enhanced hCG-induced progesterone production in MA-10 cells by increasing P450scc activity without influencing StAR protein and P450scc enzyme expression or 3beta-HSD enzyme activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Liang-Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yuan-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ming-Yie
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Sew-Fen
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Leu
authors.forename: Bu-Miin
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D015096:3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002786:Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000494:pharmacology; D007984:Leydig Cell Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011374:Progesterone / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013256:Steroids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D013256:Steroids; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein; D011374:Progesterone; D000661:Amphetamine; D015096:3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D002786:Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme