Publications by authors named "R Vihko"

17beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17HSD type 1) catalyzes the reduction of estrone (E(1)) to biologically more active estradiol (E(2)). In the present study, the effect of activin, inhibin, and follistatin on 17HSD activity and 17HSD type 1 expression in cultured, unluteinized rat granulosa cells was examined. Furthermore, the effects of these hormones on 17HSD type 1 expression were compared with the expression of P450 aromatase (P450arom).

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17Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity represents a group of several isoenzymes (17HSDs) that catalyze the interconversion between highly active 17beta-hydroxy- and low activity 17-ketosteroids and thereby regulate the biological activity of sex steroids. The present study was carried out to characterize the expression of 17HSD isoenzymes in human mammary epithelial cells and breast tissue. In normal breast tissues 17HSD types 1 and 2 mRNAs were both evenly expressed in glandular epithelium.

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The function of the gene encoding human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17HSD) type 1, the hHSD17B1 gene, is regulated by a cell-specific enhancer at position -662 to -392. The adjacent hHSD17BP1 gene, whose function is not known, contains an analogous region in its 5'-flanking region. The identity between the hHSD17B1 enhancer and the hHSD17BP1 equivalent is as high as 98%, i.

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Two 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (17HSDs), type 1 and type 7, are enzymes of estradiol biosynthesis, in addition to which rodent type 1 enzymes are also able to catalyze androgens. Both of the 17HSDs are abundantly expressed in ovaries, the type 1 enzyme in granulosa cells and type 7 in luteinized cells. The expression of 17HSD7, which has also been described as a prolactin receptor-associated protein (PRAP), is particularly up-regulated in corpus luteum during the second half of rodent pregnancy.

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Human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17HSD) type 2 is a widely distributed enzyme that primarily converts the highly active 17beta-hydroxysteroids to their inactive keto forms. In the present study, full-length human 17HSD type 2 was localized in the endoplasmic reticulum using a double immunofluorescence labeling technique. As a consequence of its strong membrane interaction, full-length human 17HSD type 2 could not be solubilized as a biologically active form in vitro.

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