FIG. 3.

Gonadotropin induction of Hsd17b3 in hypogonadal αERKO ovaries. Adult wild-type^hpg (WT^hpg) males and females, and αERKO^hpg females were treated for 1 week with purified human LH or recombinant human FSH (see Materials and Methods). (top) Shown is a representative agarose gel of semi-quantitative RT-PCR for Hsd17b3 and Hsd17b1 transcripts in the gonads of each genotype and treatment. Hsd17b3 expression is relatively unique to testes and maximally induced by hLH, while Hsd17b1 is relatively unique to ovaries and maximally induced by hFSH. Also apparent is the testis-like induction of Hsd17b3 expression in the ovaries of αERKO^hpg females. A small amount of Hsd17b3 expression is detectable by RT-PCR in the ovaries of LH-treated WT^hpg females. (bottom) Shown are the results of real-time RT-PCR quantitative assays (average ± SEM) for Hsd17b3 and Hsd17b1 transcripts in the gonads of each genotype and treatment. Sample numbers (n) for each group were: WT^hpg males (all groups), 4 per group; WT^hpg-none, 2 pools (3–4 ovary pairs per pool); WT^hpg-hFSH, 6; WT^hpg-hLH, 3; αERKO^hpg (all groups), 2 per group.