Levels of messenger ribonucleic acid for cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P-450 and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in bovine preovulatory follicles decrease after the luteinizing hormone surge.

During the follicular/luteal phase shift in steroidogenesis, follicular steroid production changes from predominantly estradiol and androgen secretion before the LH surge to decreased androgen and estrogen and increased progesterone after the LH surge. Our objective was to determine whether changes in progesterone production by the preovulatory follicle are effected via changes in mRNA levels for the steroidogenic enzymes cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 (P450scc) and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta 5-delta 4-isomerase (3 beta HSD). Bovine preovulatory follicles were obtained in the early follicular phase (n = 9 follicles), the midfollicular phase (n = 4), or the late follicular phase (after the LH surge, but before ovulation; n = 5). Total RNA extracted from granulosa cells and theca interna at the time of cell isolation or after 24 or 72 h of culture in control or LH-containing medium was subjected to Northern analysis, and autoradiographs were scanned densitometrically. P450scc mRNA levels in granulosa cells were high in the early follicular phase and decreased by 96% after the LH surge (P < 0.05). 3 beta HSD mRNA levels in granulosa cells were 4.2-fold higher in early vs. late follicular phase (P < 0.01). In theca interna, 3 beta HSD mRNA levels were 3.6- and 2.6-fold higher in the early vs. the mid- and late follicular phase (P < 0.05), but levels of P450scc mRNA did not differ significantly with stage of follicular development. After granulosa cells had been cultured for 24 h in control or LH-containing medium, P450scc and 3 beta HSD mRNA had declined dramatically compared to mRNA levels at the time of cell isolation during the early follicular phase (P < 0.01). However, after 72 h in control or LH-containing medium, an increase in P450scc and 3 beta HSD mRNA was observed relative to levels at 24 h (P < 0.01). After 72 h of culture, the signal for P450scc and 3 beta HSD mRNA in granulosa cells exposed to LH was higher than the signal detected in cultures without LH (P < 0.01). Similar changes in message for P450scc were observed in cultured thecal cells. Thus, the previously observed increases in production of progesterone by bovine theca interna and granulosa cells obtained after vs. before the LH surge cannot be explained by an increase in message for P450scc and 3 beta HSD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)