Wehling M
Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty for Clinical Medicine at Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
Annu Rev Physiol. 1997;59:365-93. doi: 10.1146/annurev.physiol.59.1.365.
Traditionally, steroid hormone action has been described as the modulation of nuclear transcription, thus triggering genomic events that are responsible for physiological effects. Despite early observations of rapid steroid effects that were incompatible with this theory, nongenomic steroid action has been widely recognized only recently. Evidence for these rapid effects is available for steroids of all clones and for a multitude of species and tissues. Examples of nongenomic steroid action include rapid aldosterone effects in lymphocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells, vitamin D3 effects in epithelial cells, progesterone action in human sperm, neurosteroid effects on neuronal function, and vascular effects of estrogens. Mechanisms of action are being studied with regard to signal perception and transduction, and researchers have developed a patchy sketch of a membrane receptor-second messenger cascade similar to those involved in catecholamine and peptide hormone action. Many of these effects appear to involve phospholipase C, phosphoinositide turnover, intracellular pH and calcium, protein kinase C, and tyrosine kinases. The physiological and pathophysiological relevance of these effects is unclear, but rapid steroid effects on cardiovascular, central nervous, and reproductive functions may occur in vivo. The cloning of the cDNA for the first membrane receptor for steroids should be achieved in the near future, and the physiological and clinical relevance of these rapid steroid effects can then be established.
传统上，甾体激素的作用被描述为对核转录的调节，从而引发导致生理效应的基因组事件。尽管早期观察到的快速甾体效应与该理论不相符，但非基因组甾体作用直到最近才被广泛认可。所有类型的甾体以及众多物种和组织都有这些快速效应的证据。非基因组甾体作用的例子包括醛固酮对淋巴细胞和血管平滑肌细胞的快速效应、维生素D3对上皮细胞的效应、孕酮对人类精子的作用、神经甾体对神经元功能的效应以及雌激素对血管的效应。关于信号感知和转导方面的作用机制正在研究中，研究人员已经勾勒出了一幅与儿茶酚胺和肽类激素作用中所涉及的类似的膜受体 - 第二信使级联反应的大致轮廓。这些效应中的许多似乎涉及磷脂酶C、磷酸肌醇代谢、细胞内pH值和钙、蛋白激酶C以及酪氨酸激酶。这些效应在生理和病理生理方面的相关性尚不清楚，但甾体对心血管、中枢神经和生殖功能的快速效应可能在体内发生。甾体首个膜受体的cDNA克隆有望在不久的将来实现，届时这些快速甾体效应在生理和临床方面的相关性便可得以确立。
