Figure 10
Activation of stickleback ARβ2 and human AR in transfected cells. A, HepG2 (black) and ZFL (grey) cells were co-transfected with the ARE-luciferase vector, stickleback ARβ2 expression vector and the Renilla (pRL) control vector. The cells were treated during 40 hours with increasing concentrations (10-14 M to 10-6 M) of KT (circles) or DHT (triangles). Exposure to the two highest doses (10-8 M and 10-6 M) of both steroids was significantly different (p < 0.01) from the 10-10 M exposure and the control levels. B, ZFL cells were cotransfected with the ARE-luciferase vector, the Renilla (pRL) control vector, and the stickleback ARβ2 expression vector (grey) or the human AR expression vector (white). The cells were treated with 10-8 M of each steroid. The luciferase levels obtained with KT exposure were significantly different (p < 0.01) from DHT and T when using the stickleback AR but not the human AR expression vector. Statistically significant differences from control levels are indicated with an asterisk (p < 0.01). In both experiments the cells were treated with steroids for 40 h. Data were normalized against the untreated control for each cell line. The results are shown as mean ± SD (n = 4).