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The cytochrome P450 enzyme 17-hydroxylase (P450c17) is required for androgen synthesis and therefore regulates substrate supply for aromatization. In this study, changes in P450c17 activity and mRNA levels were measured during ovarian development in the normal mouse and in the hypogonadal (hpg) mouse which lacks circulating gonadotrophins. At birth, low levels of P450c17 activity and mRNA were detectable in normal ovaries. This basal level of expression did not change until after day 10 at which time both enzyme activity and mRNA levels increased by six- to eightfold. In the hpg mouse, levels of P450c17 mRNA were normal at birth but did not change significantly during subsequent development and were significantly less than normal by day 15. Results show that there is a low level of gonadotrophin-independent expression of P450c17 in the ovary at birth and that gonadotrophins are required for the subsequent increase in expression between days 10 and 15. In the ovary, P450c17 is expressed solely in the thecal/interstitial compartment and interstitial cells arise in the mouse ovary around day 11. Changes in P450c17 are likely, therefore, to be related to gonadotrophin-dependent development of the interstitial tissue in the mouse. Treatment of adult hpg mice with LH and FSH showed that both gonadotrophins can act to increase P450c17 activity. Since FSH acts only on the granulosa cell compartment of the ovary it is likely that FSH acts through a paracrine mechanism to regulate thecal/interstitial cell activity.

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