Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2016 May 13;7:42. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2016.00042. eCollection 2016.
Frontiers in endocrinology
Wen-Jun Shen, Salman Azhar, Fredric B Kraemer
PMID: 27242666 PMCID: PMC4865504 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2016.00042
The adrenal gland is one of the prominent sites for steroid hormone synthesis. Lipoprotein-derived cholesterol esters (CEs) delivered via SR-B1 constitute the dominant source of cholesterol for steroidogenesis, particularly in rodents. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulates steroidogenesis through downstream actions on multiple components involved in steroidogenesis. Both acute and chronic ACTH treatments can modulate SR-B1 function, including its transcription, posttranscriptional stability, phosphorylation and dimerization status, as well as the interaction with other protein partners, all of which result in changes in the ability of SR-B1 to mediate HDL-CE uptake and the supply of cholesterol for conversion to steroids. Here, we provide a review of the recent findings on the regulation of adrenal SR-B1 function by ACTH.
Keywords: ACTH; SR-B1; adrenal; cholesterol