Non-classical testosterone signaling is mediated by a G-protein-coupled receptor interacting with Gnα11.

Testosterone is known to mediate its effects by two different mechanisms of action. In the so-called "classical" pathway testosterone binds to cytosolic androgen receptors (AR), which essentially function as ligand-activated transcription factors. Once activated, these receptors bind to DNA and activate the expression of target genes. In the "non-classical" pathway, the steroid hormone binds to receptors associated with the plasma membrane and induces signaling cascades mediated through activation of Erk1/2. The precise nature of the membrane-associated AR, however, remains controversial. Although some assume that the membrane and cytosolic AR are identical, others propose that the AR of the membrane is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). To evaluate these two possibilities we first searched for testosterone-induced signaling cascades in the spermatogenic cell line GC-2. Testosterone was found to cause phosphorylation (activation) of Erk1/2, CREB, and ATF-1, consistent with its non-classical mechanism of action. Silencing of AR expression by means of siRNA did not influence testosterone-induced activation of Erk1/2, CREB, or ATF-1, indicating that this pathway is not activated by the classical cytosolic/nuclear AR. In contrast, when the expression of the G-protein Gnα11 is suppressed, the activation of these signaling molecules is abolished, suggesting that these responses are elicited through a membrane-bound GPCR. The results presented here and the identification of the testosterone-specific GPCR in future investigations will help to reveal and characterize new testosterone-mediated mechanisms associated not only with fertility and reproduction but perhaps also with other physiological processes.