Estimation of kinetic parameters of androgen-synthesizing enzyme activities in superfused Leydig cells from rat testes: difference between endogenous and exogenous substrates.

Kinetic parameters of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase, steroid-17 alpha-monooxygenase, and steroid-17,20-lyase activities were estimated under steady-state conditions. Purified Leydig cells from rat testes were superfused with pregnenolone, progesterone, or 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone. The Km values for both the monooxygenase- and the lyase-catalyzed reactions were by factors of five to ten higher if analyzed with the exogenously added substrate (0.98 and 0.65 microM, respectively) than if calculated from endogenous substrate derived from a precursor (0.10 and 0.13 microM, respectively). This discrepancy may be explained by different substrate partition between the intra- and extracellular spaces and by different substrate concentration at the active site of the respective enzyme, depending on whether the actual substrate is of exogenous or endogenous source.