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Defects of the AR cause a wide range of abnormalities of male development, ranging from individuals with mild defects of virilization to those with complete female phenotypes. In parallel with this phenotypic spectrum, a large number of different mutations have been identified that alter the synthesis or functional activity of the receptor protein. This report aims to categorize the alterations of immunoreactive AR (IRAR) expression and the underlying genetic changes in a single category of patient: those in whom ligand binding is undetectable in genital skin fibroblasts. Our study found a wide range in the levels of IRAR that are detectable in fibroblast strains established from 27 such individuals. A large proportion (19 of 27) express significant amounts of AR protein, as detected using a sensitive Western blot technique. In a smaller number (8/27), AR expression was undetectable. Intact IRAR was identified in16 of the 19 fibroblast strains in which AR expression could be detected. The AR gene was analyzed in 14 strains from this group. In 13 instances, single amino acid substitutions were identified within the ligand-binding domain of the receptor protein. In three of the remaining patients (3 of 19), truncation of the receptor protein was suggested by the rapid migration of the IRAR in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. In those three patients, production of the shortened immunoreactive receptor was traced to mutations that interrupted the AR open reading frame. By contrast, only one of the eight patient samples with no detectable IRAR carried a mutation that resulted in a single amino acid substitution. An interruption of the AR open reading frame was identified in six of the eight strains in which immunoreactive receptor was absent. In the remaining strain, no mutation was present within or surrounding the eight coding exons. This study serves to define the effects that mutations of the AR have on the levels of expressed immunoreactive receptor protein. In addition, it demonstrates the type of information that can be obtained if an immunoblot assay were to be used as a component of a screening method to analyze samples from patients with defects of the AR. Finally, the study suggests that in some androgen-resistant patients, defects outside the AR open reading frame may result in major alterations of AR expression.

The APA1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes Ap4A phosphorylase I, the catabolic enzyme for diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphate (Ap4A). APA1 has been inserted into a multicopy plasmid and into a centromeric plasmid with a GAL1 promoter. Enhanced expression of APA1 via the plasmids resulted in 10- and 90-fold increases in Ap4A phosphorylase activity, respectively, as assayed in vitro. However, the intracellular concentration of Ap4A exhibited increases of 2- and 15-fold, respectively, from the two different plasmids. Intracellular Ap4A increased 3- to 20-fold during growth on galactose of a transformant with APA1 under the control of the GAL1 promoter. Intracellular adenosine 5'-P1-tetraphospho-P4-5"'-guanosine (Ap4G) and diguanosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphate (Gp4G) also increased in the transformant under these conditions. The chromosomal locus of APA1 has been disrupted in a haploid strain. The Ap4A phosphorylase activity decreased by 80% and the intracellular Ap4A concentration increased by a factor of five in the null mutant. These results with the null mutant agree with previous results reported by Plateau et al. (P. Plateau, M. Fromant, J.-M. Schmitter, J.-M. Buhler, and S. Blancquet, J. Bacteriol. 171:6437-6445, 1989). The paradoxical increase in Ap4A upon enhanced expression of APA1 indicates that the metabolic consequences of altered gene expression may be more complex than indicated solely by assay of enzymatic activity of the gene product.

The pathogenesis of X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) has been traced to an expansion of repeated glutamine (Gln) residues within the amino terminus of the human androgen receptor (AR). To examine the mechanisms by which these expanded repeat ARs (Exp-ARs) are toxic to neurons, we have established and characterized a cell culture model by stably transfecting SH-SY 5Y neuroblastoma cells with cDNAs containing either normal AR (81 series; 23 Glns) or Exp-AR (902 series; 56 Glns). At a low passage number, no differences in cell morphology, growth properties, or susceptibility to toxic insults were observed between clones expressing normal AR or Exp-AR. Initially, both types of cultures were found to express similar levels of specific hormone binding in monolayer binding assays. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated the vast majority of both the normal AR and Exp-AR were localized to the nucleus in the absence and presence of androgen. As the 902 series of clones were propagated, the Exp-AR content in the cells appeared to decline progressively. However, this decrease actually reflects a gradual disappearance of the Exp-AR cell population. No such selection occurred during the propagation of cells expressing the normal AR. This selection against cells expressing physiological levels of Exp-AR occurs in the absence of intracellular aggregates and suggests that mechanisms other than those involving the formation of aggregates underlie the observed toxicity of Exp-ARs.