Inhibitory effect of a synthetic steroidal anti-androgen (16\g=b\-ethyl-17\g=b\-hydroxy-4-oestren-3-one) on the in vitro formation of 5\g=a\-dihydrotestosterone(5\g=a\-DHT)-receptorcomplex was examined. An aliquot of the cytosol from rat ventral prostates was incubated with [3H]5\g=a\-DHT in the presence of various amounts of the anti\x=req-\ androgen.By means of dextran-coated charcoal assay and sucrose density-gradient centrifugation analysis, TSAA-291 was demonstrated to inhibit directly, in a competitive manner, the binding of 5\g=a\-DHT to a component analogous in its properties to the cytosol androgen receptor.Further, displacing study using a variety of TSAA-291 analogues was undertaken to examine which of the functional groups of TSAA-291 is important for the affinity to the 5\g=a\-DHT binding component, and elucidated that 3-hydroxy or 5\g=a\-dihydro derivatives of TSAA-291 and others having axial methyl group at C-10 were less potent competitors for [3H]5\g=a\-DHTbinding than TSAA-291. Furthermore, using other steroids including androgens and anti-androgens, considerable knowledge was obtained about structural requirements for a steroid molecule to displace the bound [3H] 5\g=a\-DHT, and this displacing activity of the steroids was discussed in terms of their anti-androgenic activity. © © © C ©