The aromatization of androgens by primary monolayer cultures of fetal rat hypothalamus.

Aromatization of [3H]androstenedione and [3H]19-hydroxyandrostenedione to [3H]estrone has been demonstrated to occur in one to two week old primary monolayer cultures of fetal rat hypothalamus. Three times more estrone is produced from 19-hydroxyandrostenedione than from androstenedione in four day incubations. Cultures treated with cytosine arabinoside have 50% less cellular protein and produce three times more estrone from either substrate than untreated cultures. Time course experiments using cultures treated with cytosine arabinoside indicate that aromatization of 19-hydroxyandrostenedione is linear for three days and can be quantitatively measured within the first two to eight hours of incubation.