Androgen Binding in the Testis: In Vitro Production of Androgen Binding Protein (ABP) by Sertoli Cell Cultures and Measurement of Nuclear Bound Androgen by a Nuclear Exchange Assay

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Abstract
Until three years ago, little was known about macromolecules which bound androgens in the testis, although physiologists and reproductive biologists had been investigating the androgen-dependent aspects of spermatogenesis for some time ±, see (1) for review. Since that time it has become clear that there are two types of androphilic macromolecules in the testis. The first to be described, termed androgen binding protein or ABP, was found in high concentration in rete testis fluid and was transported from the testis into the epididymis (2–6). The ABP-androgen complex was found to have a rapid dissociation rate with a t1/2 of 3 min3 (7). The second androphile, demonstrated by in vivo injection of H-testosterone, had the characteristics of an intracellular receptor — a slow complex dissociation rate, heat instability, and a 6–8S sedimentation coefficient (8).