Endocrine Abstracts

Hypothyroidism refers to a thyroid hormone (TH) deficiency which mainly affects women (10/1 ratio). The higher default incidence in women remains unexplained. Diagnosis of hypothyroidism is based on a single thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH) measurement albeit TSH secretion displays pulsatile patterns which are under the positive control of hypothalamic thyrotropin-releasing-hormone (TRH) and negative feedback exerted by THs. Pituitary thyrotrophs form the smallest (2-4%) pitu...

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumours, which arise from neural crest (NC)-derived structures: the adrenal medulla and the paraganglia. Around one third of PPGLs are associated with inherited cancer susceptibility genes, the highest rate among all tumour types. Currently, the only diagnostic criterion for malignant disease is the presence of metastasis and no molecular or histological features have been identified that help predict risk. A...

The pituitary gland is a dynamic organ that adapts its cellular architecture throughout life, making it an ideal model for the study of stem cells (SCs), their commitment and differentiation. Sox2-expressing cells are bona fide anterior pituitary stem cells (PSCs), which through genetic lineage tracing have been shown to give rise to all anterior pituitary hormone-producing cells both in the embryo and adult. The YAP/TAZ signalling pathway has been previously...

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumours, which arise from neural crest (NC)-derived structures: the adrenal medulla and the paraganglia. Around one third of PPGLs are associated with inherited cancer susceptibility genes, the highest rate among all tumour types. Currently, the only diagnostic criterion for malignant disease is the presence of metastasis and no molecular or histological features have been identified that help predict risk. A...