Studies of the locus for androgen receptor: localization on the human X chromosome and evidence for homology with the Tfm locus in the mouse.

We have established a cell line from mouse kidney cells expressing the tfm mutation and showed that these cells lack androgen binding activity. A subclone of these simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed cells (6TGR-SV-tfm) selected in 6-thioguanine and lacking hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase was used to produce a series of mouse--human hybrids containing the normal human X chromosome or various X autosome-translocation chromosomes (expressing only segments of the human X chromosome). When the androgen receptor locus (AR) was present in the hybrid, the number of receptor sites and kinetics of binding were similar to that in the human parental cells. Analysis of hybrids with partial human X chromosomes by using assays for X chromosome-linked enzymes and for the androgen receptor protein indicate that the AR locus on the human X chromosome is near the centromere between Xq13 and Xp11 and is proximal to the locus for phosphoglycerate kinase. Hybrids derived from 6TGR-SV-tfm mouse cells and human labial fibroblasts from an XY individual with the ar- form of androgen insensitivity have no binding activity. The lack of complementation indicates that the X chromosome-linked mutations in mouse and man affect homologous loci and supports the evolutionary conservation of X chromosomal loci in mammals; however, the position of the locus on the human X chromosome indicates that intrachromosomal rearrangement has occurred.