Jump to content

Steroid sulfate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, a major endogenous steroid sulfate. Note the steroid ester at the C3β position.

Steroid sulfates are endogenous sulfate esters of steroids.[1] They are formed by steroid sulfotransferases via sulfation of endogenous steroids like cholesterol and steroid hormones.[1] Although steroid sulfates do not bind to steroid hormone receptors and hence are hormonally inert, they can be desulfated by steroid sulfatase and in this way serve as precursors and circulating reservoirs for their active unsulfated counterparts.[1] In addition, some steroid sulfates have biological activity in their own right, for instance acting as neurosteroids and modulating ligand-gated ion channels such as the GABAA and NMDA receptors among other biological targets.[1][2]

List of endogenous steroid sulfates

[edit]

Endogenous steroid sulfates include:[1]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Mueller JW, Gilligan LC, Idkowiak J, Arlt W, Foster PA (2015). "The Regulation of Steroid Action by Sulfation and Desulfation". Endocr. Rev. 36 (5): 526–63. doi:10.1210/er.2015-1036. PMC 4591525. PMID 26213785.
  2. ^ Gibbs TT, Russek SJ, Farb DH (2006). "Sulfated steroids as endogenous neuromodulators". Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 84 (4): 555–67. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2006.07.031. PMID 17023038. S2CID 33659983.