ArticleThe Journal of biological chemistry2014
Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor/translocator protein global knock-out mice are viable with no effects on steroid hormone biosynthesis.
Article in The Journal of biological chemistry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
127 citing papers in PubMed, 233 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Target validation uncouples mitochondrial translocator protein from 19-Atriol-mediated inhibition of steroidogenesis and identifies enzymatic targets.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Article
- TSPO in systemic-ocular immunometabolic crosstalk: mechanisms and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- STAR/STARD1: A mitochondrial intermembrane space cholesterol shuttle degraded through mitophagy.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Novel Dual Mechanism GRT-X Agonist Acting on Kv7 Potassium Channel/Translocator Protein Receptor Prevents Motoneuron Degeneration Following Exposure to Mouse and Human Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Frontotemporal Dementia Astrocyte-Conditioned Media.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Single cell resolution of neurosteroidogenesis in the murine brain: de novo biosynthesis.The Journal of endocrinology · 2025Article
- Cholesterol-dependent enzyme activity of human TSPO1.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Thirty years of StAR gazing. Expanding the universe of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein.The Journal of endocrinology · 2025Review
- A Comprehensive Functional Investigation of the Human Translocator Protein 18 kDa (TSPO) in a Novel Human Neuronal Cell Knockout Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Identification of a mechanism promoting mitochondrial sterol accumulation during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion: role of TSPO and STAR.Basic research in cardiology · 2024Article
- Functional role of translocator protein and its ligands in ocular diseases (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2024Review
- Outward depolarization of the microglia mitochondrial membrane potential following lipopolysaccharide exposure: a novel screening tool for microglia metabolomics.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2024Article
- Chronic administration of XBD173 ameliorates cognitive deficits and neuropathology via 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Regulation of astrocyte metabolism by mitochondrial translocator protein 18kDa.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Indol-3-ylglyoxylamide as Privileged Scaffold in Medicinal Chemistry.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Pharmacological modulation of TSPO in microglia/macrophages and neurons in a chronic neurodegenerative model of prion disease.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2023Article
- New TSPO Crystal Structures of Mutant and Heme-Bound Forms with Altered Flexibility, Ligand Binding, and Porphyrin Degradation Activity.Biochemistry · 2023Article
- Article
- The Comprehensive Steroidome in Complete TSPO/PBR Knockout Mice under Basal Conditions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- TSPO is a potential independent prognostic factor associated with cellular respiration and p16 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Translocator protein (TSPO), previously known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, is a mitochondrial outer membrane protein implicated as essential for cholesterol import to the inner mitochondrial membrane, the rate-limiting step in steroid hormone biosynthesis. Previous research on TSPO was based entirely on in vitro experiments, and its critical role was reinforced by an early report that claimed TSPO knock-out mice were embryonic lethal. In a previous publication, we examined Leydig cell-specific TSPO conditional knock-out mice that suggested TSPO was not required for testosterone production in vivo. This raised controversy and several questions regarding TSPO function. To examine the definitive role of TSPO in steroidogenesis and embryo development, we generated global TSPO null (Tspo(-/-)) mice. Contrary to the early report, Tspo(-/-) mice survived with no apparent phenotypic abnormalities and were fertile. Examination of adrenal and gonadal steroidogenesis showed no defects in Tspo(-/-) mice. Adrenal transcriptome comparison of gene expression profiles showed that genes involved in steroid hormone biosynthesis (Star, Cyp11a1, and Hsd3b1) were unchanged in Tspo(-/-) mice. Adrenocortical ultrastructure illustrated no morphological alterations in Tspo(-/-) mice. In an attempt to correlate our in vivo findings to previously used in vitro models, we also determined that siRNA knockdown or the absence of TSPO in different mouse and human steroidogenic cell lines had no effect on steroidogenesis. These findings directly refute the dogma that TSPO is indispensable for steroid hormone biosynthesis and viability. By amending the current model, this study advances our understanding of steroidogenesis with broad implications in biology and medicine.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.