Question

Estrogen and testosterone are structurally related to cholesterol. Based on what you have learned about cholesterol, predict how these steroid hormones signal to the cell.

Answer 1

Estrogen and testosterone are non polar in nature.They can easily pass the cell mambrane which is made up of lipid bilayer.After entering the cell they bind to their intracellular receptors present in the cytoplasm.

The receptor hormone complex moves to the nucleus and perform transcription and later on translation of desired proteins.

Estrogen helps in the functioning of reproductive system as it supports growth and differentiation.Whereas testosterone is important for sertoli cells which help in the process of spermatogenesis i.e formation of sperm.