Endocrine Abstracts

Deficiency of the intracellular glucocorticoid (GC) reactivating enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) invokes compensatory activation of the HPA axis. Nevertheless, 11β-HSD1−/− mice resist dietary-induced obesity indicating that target tissues are protected from GC actions. Since endocrine adaptation to diet is mediated by altered HPA activity, we investigated whether the adrenal response to high fat (HF) diet is compr...

Steroidogenic cells of the adrenal cortex are thought to originate from a peripherally-located self-renewing population of undifferentiated stem or progenitor cells. These cells divide infrequently to give daughters, which proliferate transiently (termed transiently amplifying (TA) cells), migrate and differentiate to replenish the functionally-differentiated zones of the adrenal cortex, or remain in situ as undifferentiated stem cells. Theoretically such stem cells can...