Endocrine Abstracts

The proglucagon-derived hormone, glucagon-like peptide–1 (GLP-1), augments both beta cell function and mass. However, GLP-1 is rapidly degraded in plasma, thereby limiting its potential as a treatment for diabetes. One approach to circumvent this problem would be to stimulate synthesis of GLP-1 locally in the islet.Emerging evidence suggests that pancreatic alpha cells, which normally produce glucagon, can adapt to produce GLP-1. This phenomenon may...

Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) is endoproteolysed by prohormone convertase-1 (PC1) to ACTH within the secretory pathway in pituitary cells, where the regulation of ACTH release is essential for mediating the stress response. However POMC is present in the human circulation, indicating that not all POMC is processed. This suggests that regulation of trafficking and processing of POMC are important in determining ACTH release. To investigate this, we analysed steady-state release o...