Cholesterol sulfate: some aspects of its biosynthesis and uptake by tissues from blood.

Abstract

The ability of a variety of tissues of the guinea pig to synthesize cholesterol sulfate from 35SO4= has been measured. Liver, kidney, skin, and lungs were active whereas, surprisingly, synthesis of the conjugate in steroid-producing endocrine organs (adrenals, testes and ovaries) was barely detectable. Following its injection intravenously, the uptake of cholesterol sulfate by various tissues of the rat has been determined. The endocrine glands did not significantly remove this conjugate from the circulation. Other tissues that were studied varied not only in this regard but also in their ability to cleave the conjugate. An attempt to find a sterol sulfate precursor of cholesterol sulfate was made by incubating rat liver homogenates either with 35S-sulfate or with 14C-mevalonic acid, but no labeled precursor was found. The origin of the cholesterol sulfate, found in abundance in adrenal tissue, still remains to be determined. (Endocrinology94: 207, 1974)