chemosignaling

Every compound in the sci-wiki that affects chemosignaling; the ones you can source are floated to the front, then the reference-only entries. Tap any for the full entry, mechanism, and outlets.

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Neurosteroid

Androstadienol

Androstadienol (androsta-5,16-dien-3β-ol) is an endogenous C19 (nineteen-carbon) delta-5,16 steroid alcohol that functions as the committed biosynthetic precursor of the 16-androstene family of chemosensory steroids, including androstadienone, androstenone and androstenol. It is formed in the gonads (and, at lower levels, in other steroidogenic tissue) from pregnenolone by a minor side activity of the enzyme CYP17A1 (cytochrome P450 17A1, the same enzyme that makes dehydroepiandrosterone); this activity is historically called andien-beta synthase or 16-ene-synthase. Because its downstream metabolites are the putative human axillary chemosignals and the compounds responsible for boar taint, androstadienol occupies the upstream branch point of a pathway of considerable interest to olfactory neuroscience and reproductive endocrinology. It should not be confused with fasedienol (aloradine), a synthetic 4,16-dien-3β-ol nasal drug; androstadienol is the naturally occurring 5,16-diene.

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Neurosteroid

Androstenol

Androstenol (5-alpha-androst-16-en-3-alpha-ol, with a 3-beta epimer) is an endogenous 16-androstene steroid (a C19 steroid that lacks the C-17 oxygen of typical androgens) and a putative human chemosignal. It is synthesized alongside testosterone in the testis, secreted in axillary (underarm) sweat, and also occurs as a major aroma component of truffles, where its volatile, musky odor is biologically active. Its documented neuroactivity in humans is chemosensory; smelling androstenol has been reported to shift self-rated mood and social judgments in some experiments and to activate the anterior hypothalamus in women, although rigorous reviews consider the evidence for a true human pheromone effect weak and inconsistent. It is grouped with the neurosteroids because it is a steroid with measurable central chemosensory and neuroendocrine effects, not because a defined ion-channel mechanism has been established.

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