Endocrine Abstracts

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It has long been recognised that caloric restriction extends lifespan in a broad range of organisms from nematodes to rodents. Furthermore, it has also been demonstrated that manipulation of components of the insulin and Igf1 signalling pathway also increases lifespan. These findings were initially made in C. elegans and Drosophila but more recently these observations have been extended to rodents. However, the processes underlying the alterations in lifespan see...

Defective signalling by insulin-like molecules is not only a fundamental characteristic of diabetes, but is also associated with the majority of human tumours, where signalling is typically hyperactivated. Although both these diseases have a significant genetic component, we are still some distance from identifying all the genes and cellular mechanisms affected.We and other groups use the powerful genetics of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster...

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signalling pathway plays a fundamental role in regulating growth and development. In extracellular environments, IGFs are present in complexes with high-affinity binding proteins (IGFBPs). Studies using cultured mammalian cell lines and transgenic mice suggest that IGFBPs have the ability to inhibit and/or potentiate IGF actions. Some IGFBPs may even possess intrinsic biological activities that are IGF-independent. The in vivo physio...