Prohormone

A prohormone is a physiological precursor to a hormone, typically a protein or steroid, that possesses minimal or no biological activity until it undergoes enzymatic processing into an active form [2, 12]. In the peptide hormone system, prohormones like proinsulin and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) are synthesized as larger polyproteins and subsequently cleaved by specific enzymes called prohormone convertases (PCs) to generate functional signaling molecules like insulin, ACTH, and endorphins [1, 9, 10]. In a pharmacological and athletic context, the term often refers to synthetic precursors of anabolic steroids, such as androstenedione or DHEA, which are metabolized by the body into potent androgens like testosterone or dihydrotestosterone [3, 8, 14, 16]. While prohormones themselves are generally not the direct therapeutic targets of drugs, the enzymes responsible for their processing (e.g., PCSK1, PCSK9) and the receptors they eventually activate are major focuses of drug development [4, 7]. Furthermore, circulating fragments of prohormones, such as NT-proBNP and ProGRP, serve as vital diagnostic biomarkers for monitoring conditions like heart failure and small cell lung cancer [11, 15].

Other names

Hormone precursorPro-proteinPro-peptidePro-androgenPrecursor proteinHormone proform

Prohormones function as inactive or weakly active precursors that require enzymatic cleavage (by proteases such as prohormone convertases) or biochemical modification (by steroid-converting enzymes) to yield biologically active hormones that can bind to their respective receptors.