Testosterone is a hormone used to treat hypogonadism, breast carcinoma in women, or the vasomotor symptoms of menopause. Testosterone antagonizes the androgen receptor to induce gene expression that causes the growth and development of masculine sex organs and secondary sexual characteristics.
- Mechanism
- Curator reviewed · 19 references
The androgen receptor exists in the cytoplasm bound to the heat shock proteins HSP90, HSP70, and other chaperones. After binding to an androgen, the androgen receptor dissociates from HSP90 and undergoes a conformational change to slow the rate of dissociation from the androgen receptor. The androgen-receptor complex is transported into the nucleus where it binds to DNA and recruits other transcriptional regulators to form a pre-initiation complex and eventually induce expression of specific genes.
Testosterone and its active metabolite dihydrotestosterone (DHT) act as an agonist of the androgen receptor to activate the receptor and upregulate the expression of androgen receptors, promoting the development of masculine sex organs including the prostate, seminal vesicles, penis, and scrotum.
Agonism of the androgen receptor is also responsible for the development of secondary sexual characteristics including facial and body hair, enlargement of the larynx, thickening of the vocal cords, and changes in muscle and fat distribution.
- Primary indication
- Testosterone is indicated to treat primary hypogonadism and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.Curator reviewed · 11 structured indications
- Formula / weight
- C19H28O2 · 288.4244 g/mol (avg)
- First approval
- Canada, 2012 · United States, 1995
- Also known as
- Virosterone
- Code names
- 4-08-00-00979 · BRN 3170544 · CCRIS 7082 · EINECS 206-253-5 · EINECS 227-712-6 · NSC-17591 · NSC-9700
- Brand names
Resolves to
MUMGGOZAMZWBJJ-DYKIIFRCSA-NSMILES[H][C@@]12CC[C@H](O)[C@@]1(C)CC[C@@]1([H])[C@@]2([H])CCC2=CC(=O)CC[C@]12CWhat you can answer from here — as of September 12, 2026
Which drugs share a target with Testosterone, and which of those have an active Phase 3 trial?
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