Until the mid-1980s studies of steroidogenesis largely depended on identifying steroid structures and measuring steroid concentrations in body fluids. The molecular biology revolution radically revolutionized studies of steroidogenesis with the cloning of known steroidogenic enzymes, by identifying novel factors, and delineating the genetic basis of known and newly discovered diseases. Unfortunately, this dramatic success has led many young research-oriented endocrinologists to regard steroidogenesis as a 'solved area'. However, many important and exciting questions remain, especially concerning the mechanisms of cholesterol delivery to the steroidogenic machinery, the biochemistry of androgen synthesis, the regulation and biological role of adrenarche, fetal adrenal development and involution, the roles of steroids made in 'extraglandular' cells, and the search for genetic disorders. This review outlines some of these questions, but this list is necessarily incomplete.

中文翻译：

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类固醇生成：未解决的问题

直到 1980 年代中期，类固醇生成的研究主要依赖于识别类固醇结构和测量体液中的类固醇浓度。分子生物学革命通过克隆已知的类固醇生成酶，通过识别新的因素，以及描绘已知和新发现疾病的遗传基础，彻底改变了类固醇生成的研究。不幸的是，这一巨大的成功导致许多年轻的研究型内分泌学家将类固醇生成视为一个“已解决的领域”。然而，许多重要和令人兴奋的问题仍然存在，特别是关于胆固醇传递到类固醇生成机制的机制，雄激素合成的生物化学，肾上腺素的调节和生物学作用，胎儿肾上腺发育和退化，类固醇在“ 腺外细胞，以及寻找遗传疾病。本评论概述了其中一些问题，但此列表不一定是不完整的。