Steroid hormones are derivatives of cholesterol that are synthesized by a variety of tissues, most prominently the adrenal gland and gonads. The cholesterol precursor comes from cholesterol synthesized within the cell from acetate, from cholesterol ester stores in intracellular lipid droplets or from uptake of cholesterol-containing low density lipoproteins. Lipoproteins taken up from plasma are most important when steroidogenic cells are chronically stimulated.
The basic cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene ring structure and carbon numbering system of all steroid hormones is depicted to the right, using pregnenolone as an example. Pregnenolone is an example of what is called a "C-21 steroid" because it has 21 carbons. Similarly, a steroid such as testosterone (see below) is referred to as a "C-19 steroid".
Biosynthesis of steroid hormones requires a battery of oxidative enzymes located in both mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. The rate-limiting step in this process is the transport of free cholesterol from the cytoplasm into mitochondria. Within mitochondria, cholesterol is converted to pregnenolone by an enzyme in the inner membrane called CYP11A1. Pregnenolone itself is not a hormone, but is the immediate precursor for the synthesis of all of the steroid hormones. The following table delineates the enzymes required to synthesize the major classes of steroid hormones.
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