Regulation of steroidogenesis in transgenic mice and zebrafish

Steroid hormones are important physiological regulators in the body. Steroi d hormones are mainly synthesized in the adrenal and gonads. Their synthesi s is stimulated by pituitary hormones through cAMP as an intracellular medi ator. The first and rate-limiting step for steroid biosynthesis is catalyze d by CYP11A1. Important regulatory elements for the control of the CYP11A1 gene expression have been characterized both in vitro and in vivo. The SF-1 -binding sites are cis-acting elements controlling the basal and cAMP-stimu lated gent expression. Our transgenic mouse studies showed that the 2.3 kb promoter contains information controlling developmentally regulated gene ex pression. Finally. we present our results on the cloning of steroidogenic g ents in zebrafish. a new model organism for genetic studies. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.