Metabolism of Testosterone by the Human Prostate

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Abstract
THE GROWTH and maintenance of the prostate depends on an adequate level of circulating androgen. Our in vitro studies on rat-ventral and monkey-caudal prostate minces have shown that a 10-7 M concentration of testosterone significantly accelerates incorporation of amino acids into protein and of acetate into fatty acids and citric acid.1 Kochakian and Harrison2 concluded that the primary site of action of androgens is "in the area of synthesis of RNA for incorporation into the ergastoplasm so that synthesis of protein and enzymes may be accomplished." Wilson3 concluded "that the generalized effects of testosterone on protein anabolism in the intact animal are in fact secondary to a generalized enhancement of a specific step in protein synthesis—the peptide-bonding of soluble RNA-amino acids to form microsomal ribonucleoproteins." These correlations of an agent, the hormone, with an effect, biosynthesis, bring us no nearer to an understanding of the