Phosphorescence of 8-azasteroids and related compounds.

We have investigated the electron absorption, fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra of 8-azasteroids and model compounds containing enaminodicarbonyl fragment. It has been shown that the investigated compounds have absorption and phosphorescence spectra similar in form and position. The results obtained permit the conclusion that the main deactivation channel of the excited singlet state is the intersystem crossing. It is suggested that the investigated 8-azasteroids of enaminodicarbonyl series under light irradiation undergo phototransformations presumably into derivatives with a gamma-pyridone fragment.

Photoaffinity labelling of nuclear steroid 5 alpha-reductase of rat ventral prostate.

In order to get more information on the molecular structure of the rat prostatic 5 alpha-reductase (3-oxo-5 alpha-steroid: NADP+ 4-ene-oxidoreductase, EC 1.3:1.22) a systematic photoaffinity labelling study has been performed. To irreversibly freeze the status quo of interaction, either testosterone, the physiological ligand, or diazo-MAPD (21-diazo-4-methyl-4-aza-5 alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione), a specific 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, was irradiated with isolated nuclei or with purified nuclear membranes or with solubilized nuclear membrane proteins and checked for optimal labelling conditions. The principal substances covalently labelled were phospholipids and at a minor ratio proteins. Analysis by SDS-PAGE and autoradiofluorography revealed two labelled polypeptides with molecular weights of 20 kDa and 26 kDa. The following evidence indicates that these polypeptides might be derived from the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase: both proteins are labelled only when specific ligands for 5 alpha-reductase are used; binding can be reduced by the addition of an excess of unlabelled ligand; enzyme activity is irreversibly suppressed when irradiated in the presence of these ligands; only subcellular fractions containing 5 alpha-reductase reveal the labelled proteins; in all 5 alpha-reductase containing preparations with increasing specific activity, independent of the polypeptide pattern, the same proteins are labelled.