- Title
- Androgen receptor signalling in the male adrenal facilitates X-zone regression, cell turnover and protects against adrenal degeneration during ageing
- Creator
- Gannon, Anne-Louise; O'Hara, Laura; Mason, J. Ian; Jørgensen, Anne; Frederiksen, Hanne; Milne, Laura; Smith, Sarah; Mitchell, Rod T.; Smith, Lee B.
- Relation
- Scientific Reports Vol. 9, no. 10457
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46049-3
- Publisher
- Nature
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Androgens are known to be an essential regulator of male health. Androgen receptor (AR) is widely expressed throughout the adrenal cortex, yet the wider role for androgen signalling in the adrenal remains underexplored. To investigate AR-dependent and AR-independent androgen signalling in the adrenal, we used a novel mouse model with a specific ablation of androgen receptor in the adrenal cortex with or without reduction of circulating androgen levels by castration. Our results describe AR expression in the human and mouse adrenal and highlight that the mouse is a viable model to investigate androgen signalling in the adrenal cortex. We show androgen signalling via AR is required for X-zone regression during puberty. Furthermore, cortex measurements define differences in X-zone morphology depending on whether circulating androgens or AR have been removed. We show androgens promote both cortical cell differentiation and apoptosis but are dispensable for the formation of the definitive cortex. Additionally, investigation of aged mice with AR ablation reveals severe cortex disruption, spindle cell hyperplasia and X-zone expansion. The data described herein demonstrates AR-signalling is required to facilitate X-zone regression, cell clearance and to protect against adrenal degeneration during ageing.
- Subject
- male health; androgens; severe cortex disruption; AR-signalling
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1413063
- Identifier
- uon:36575
- Identifier
- ISSN:2045-2322
- Rights
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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