ABSTRACT

Sex steroid hormones regulate the expression of a variety of genes in different organs. Among them, the mouse kidney presents the particularity to be affected by androgens. The major site of action of testosterone takes place in the proximal tubule. It has also been shown that the regulation of androgen-regulated genes may differ in the pars convoluted (S1/S2) and late terminal or pars recta (S3) segments of the renal proximal tubule. This review summarizes the recent findings on the regulation of genes by sex steroid hormones in the mouse kidney and more particularly, the differential spatial regulation of the kidney androgen-regulated protein (KAP) gene by androgenic and thyroid hormones in the mouse kidney and in ex vivo models of cultured proximal tubule cells derived from transgenic mice. The role of testosterone on the growth of renal epithelial cells is also discussed.