Expression of Ovary-Specific Acidic Protein in Steroidogenic Tissues : A Possible Role in Steroidogenesis

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Our results indicate that the mitochondrial protein OSAP is abundantly expressed in steroidogenic tissues with a few exceptions. The results also suggest that OSAP is involved in steroidogenesis. However, our findings point to a permissive role for OSAP in steroidogenesis rather than a regulatory role because OSAP expression was not stimulated by a cAMP analog. Thus, we speculate that this protein could be involved in insuring optimal steroidogenesis through maintaining mitochondrial abundance and/or function. Further studies are warranted to substantiate this postulated role for OSAP in steroidogenic cells.