= Follicle-stimulating hormone beta subunit
= FSH beta subunit
{c}
{synonym}
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.<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]{ref}
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.<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]{ref}
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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