The FSH beta subunit is the hormone-specific protein subunit of follicle-stimulating hormone. The active hormone is a heterodimer: its beta chain associates with an alpha chain shared with related glycoprotein hormones, including luteinizing hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone. The isolated beta chain and the assembled protein complex are therefore different experimental objects.[ref]
Follicle stimulating hormone is required for ovarian follicle maturation but not male fertility by T. R. Kumar and others. Abstract, common alpha chain, specific beta chains and heterodimer-dependent activity
A 1997 gene knockout experiment removed production of the FSH beta subunit in mice, producing deficiency of follicle-stimulating hormone. Females could not complete normal ovarian follicle development and were infertile; males retained fertility despite reduced testis size. The contrast shows how disrupting one component can test a proposed requirement for the assembled signal.[ref]
Follicle stimulating hormone is required for ovarian follicle maturation but not male fertility by T. R. Kumar and others. Abstract, targeted beta-subunit deficiency and sex-dependent outcomes
This result concerns a particular genetic perturbation and measured outcomes in mice. It does not imply that every function of follicle-stimulating hormone is dispensable in males, nor that a shared alpha chain makes these hormones interchangeable.
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