[Role of mitochondria in the process of steroidogenesis induced by gonadotropins].

Specific inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis in mitochondria, ethidium bromide and chloramphenicol, suppress the increase in the uterine weight of sexually immature mice and the in vitro maturation of oocytes of anuran amphibians induced by gonadotropins. The effect of steroid hormones on the uterus of mice and the oocytes of amphibians is not prevented by the inhibitors of macromolecular syntheses in mitochondria. In in vivo experiments, the doses of ethidium bromide inhibiting RNA synthesis in the liver mitochondria of mice stimulate RNA synthesis in the nuclei. This stimulation is accompanied by the increase in the activity of RNA polymerases. The possible involvement of mitochondrial genome in the gonadotropin-induced steroidogenesis is discussed.