Terpene Metabolism in the Rat Testis. II. Metabolism of Mevalonic Acid by Cell-free Preparations^*

Sterol Biosynthesis in the Bovine Corpus Luteum in Vitro*

“…Recent reports on sterol synthesis in whole cell suspensions and homogenates of testis tissue (Tsai et al, 1964; Gaylor Salokangas et al, 1964Salokangas et al, , 1965 enforce the concept that cholesterol synthesis in steroidogenic tissues is qualitatively similar, but quantitatively different, to that in liver. Tsai et al (1964) and Salokangas et al (1964Salokangas et al ( , 1965 have also reported the synthesis and accumulation in testis of relatively large amounts of squalene from small-molecule precursors, have shown that [14C]lanosterol is a major component of the sterol fraction isolated from whole cell suspensions of testis, incubated with [14C]acetate.…”

“…Recent reports on sterol synthesis in whole cell suspensions and homogenates of testis tissue (Tsai et al, 1964; Gaylor Salokangas et al, 1964Salokangas et al, , 1965 enforce the concept that cholesterol synthesis in steroidogenic tissues is qualitatively similar, but quantitatively different, to that in liver. Tsai et al (1964) and Salokangas et al (1964Salokangas et al ( , 1965 have also reported the synthesis and accumulation in testis of relatively large amounts of squalene from small-molecule precursors, have shown that [14C]lanosterol is a major component of the sterol fraction isolated from whole cell suspensions of testis, incubated with [14C]acetate. On the basis of (a) the above findings in testis, (b) the accumulation of newly formed squalene in corpus luteum previously noted, and (c) the appreciable concentrations of endogenous squalene and lanosterol in this tissue, one might speculate that in both testis and corpus luteum these precursors may act as reserves for rapidly replenishing a small "steroidogenic" cholesterol pool.…”

Functional metabolite reserves and lipid homeostasis revealed by the MA-10 Leydig cell metabolome

“…However, there are presently no studies that profile nonlipid metabolites for systems biology analyses in any steroidogenic cell type. Previous investigations on nonlipid metabolites have been targeted to examine limited substrates for cholesterol synthesis ( 31 , 32 ) or energy metabolism ( 33 , 34 ), and have not extended to uncover any networked metabolic pathways or interactions.…”

The Biosynthesis of Squalene, Lanosterol, and Cholesterol by Minced Human Placenta*

“…The biosynthesis of cholesterol in steroidogenic tissues has not been studied in detail. Salokangas et al (1964Salokangas et al ( , 1965 found that rat testicular cell-free preparations can convert mevalonate-5-sH and 14Cisopentenyl pyrophosphate to squalene, lanosterol, and cholesterol present in the placenta after 2 hr of incubation accounted for 0.12% of the labeled mevalonate. The conversion of mevalonate to sterol was linear with time during at least the first hour of the 2 hr of incubation.…”