Steroid 5A-reductases

US5679521A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System · US

Inventors

• Stefan Andersson · Flyinge, SE
• David W. Russell · Dallas, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 1, 1995
• Grant date: Oct 21, 1997
• Expiry date: Jun 1, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12Y103/01022
• WIPO field: Biotechnology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and compositions for the preparation of steroid 5.alpha.-reductases by recombinant means, as well as for the use of these enzymes in screening assays for the identification of compounds which have the ability to inhibit or otherwise alter the enzymatic function of these enzymes. Biochemical and pharmacological evidence is presented to demonstrate the existence of more than one human steroid 5.alpha.-reductase. The DNA sequence encoding steroid 5.alpha.-reductase 2, the major active isozyme of human genital tissue, is disclosed herein, in addition to methods and compositions for its preparation and pharmacological analysis. The sequences disclosed herein may be used directly in the preparation of genetic constructs, or may be employed in the preparation of hybridization probes for the selection of enzyme-encoding sequences from other sources. These sequences may prove useful in an analysis of normal and abnormal sexual differentiation, benign prostatic hyperplasia, male pattern baldness, acne, hirsutism, endometriosis, and cancer of the prostate.