Testosterone, an androgen or male hormone, is directly responsible for many of the physical and psychological factors that produce and define masculinity. Embryos that produce testosterone develop male sex organs, while pubescent boys become reproductively capable men under the hormone's influence. Male characteristics like deep voice, body hair, and musculature are all a result of the hormone. Testosterone is made up of three elemental components that work together to produce its effects.
Carbon
Carbon is by far the most ubiquitous of the elements of life. The vast bulk of the molecules of life are made up of four major elements, of which carbon is the most prevalent. This, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry," is due to carbon's ability to make stable, long-lasting bonds and to define the overall shape of a molecule through forming a stable molecular backbone. Testosterone has 19 carbon atoms in its structure, which form four interconnected rings. This gives testosterone a specific shape that allows it to bind to receptors in the body, signaling cells and producing its effects.
Hydrogen
While most molecules of life have more hydrogen by number of atoms than they do carbon, hydrogen is a very light element. Further, hydrogen doesn't help define the shape of a molecule to the same extent that carbon does, since each atom of hydrogen can form only one bond. Still, hydrogen is an important component of testosterone and other organic molecules, because it stabilizes the carbon atoms in the molecule by filling the carbons' electron shells. Testosterone has 28 hydrogen atoms, according to the "CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics," only two of which are chemically reactive. The other 26 have very stable bonds to carbon atoms and don't participate significantly in testosterone's reactivity.
Oxygen
Oxygen is one of the more reactive of the elements of life. Testosterone's structure contains two oxygen atoms. One is bonded to carbon by a double bond, forming a reactive group called a carbonyl. Carbonyls are susceptible to attack by other reactive molecules, note Drs. Garrett and Grisham. Testosterone has an oxygen bonded once each to a carbon atom and a hydrogen atom, forming an alcohol group. This, like a carbonyl, is a reactive group capable of participating in chemical reactions with other molecules. In conjunction with the skeleton of the molecule as defined by carbon and hydrogen, testosterone's oxygen atoms give it areas of special reactivity that help it bind to receptors and produce its effects in the body.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- "CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics"; David Lide; 1974
