Effects of Testosterone, 17β-estradiol, and Progesterone on the Differentiation of Bovine Intramuscular Adipocytes

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of testosterone, 17$\beta$-estradiol, and progesterone on the differentiation of bovine intramuscular adipocytes (BIA). Stromal-vascular (SV) cells were obtained from M. longissimus dorsi of 20 months old Korean (Hanwoo) steers, and were cultured in DMEM containing 5% FBS. The proliferated BIA were induced to differentiate with 0.25 $\mu$M dexamethasone, 0.5 mM 1-methyl-3-isobutyl-xanthine and 10 $\mu$g/ml insulin. During differentiation, the cells were treated with testosterone, 17$\beta$-estradiol, and progesterone at concentrations of $10^{-10}$, $10^{-9}$, and $10^{-8}$ M, respectively, for 12 days. Regardless of its concentration, testosterone remarkably reduced lipid droplets in the cytosol of BIA. On the other hand, 17$\beta$-estradiol and progesterone increased the accumulation of lipid droplets in BIA. Testosterone significantly (p<0.05) decreased GPDH activities with a dose-dependent pattern. 17$\beta$-Estradiol treatment onto BIA during differentiation, however, increased GPDH activity showing the highest activity (11.3 nmol/mg protein/min) at $10^{-10}$ M. Treatment of BIA with progesterone also increased (p<0.05) GPDH activity with the highest activity (13.8 nmol/mg protein/min) at $10^{-9}$ M. In conclusion, the results in the current study suggest that testosterone inhibits differentiation of BIA by suppressing GPDH activity while 17$\beta$-estradiol and progesterone have adverse effects.