Interstitial cells were separated from the tubules of testes of young and mature rats. When interstitial cells were incubated with cholesterol-7α-3H this substrate was converted to testosterone-3H and androstenedione-3H. Under similar conditions tubules from the same testes failed to convert cholesterol to either androgen. To the extent that cholesterol is the physiological precursor of steroid hormones, these results confirm previous evidence that interstitial cells represent the major and probably the only source of testicular androgens. In confirmation of a previous report, both interstitial cells and tubules were found to convert progesterone-4-14C to testosterone-14C and to androstenedione- 14C, although the physiological significance of this observation remains uncertain. (Endocrinology84: 488, 1969)
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Hall et al. (1969) studied this question.