Endocrine Abstracts

Antagonists of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) are being developed for the treatment of various human cancers. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of GHRH antagonist JMR-132 treatment in ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV-3, CaOV-3 and OVCAR-3). Using MTT assay, we found that JMR-132 has a strong anti-proliferation effects on SKOV-3 and CaOV-3 cells in a time (0, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h) and dose (0, 25 nM, 50 nM, 100 nM and 200 nM) dependent manner. Also, JMR...

Antagonists of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH-ant) may exert their antiproliferative effects directly on cancer cells, which are mediated by the tumoral GHRH receptors identified by us. Furthermore we showed that GHRH-ant are able to induce apoptosis in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells through a Ca2+-dependent pathway. However, the molecular features involved in the antiproliferative effect of GHRH-ant have not yet been elucidated. To study this, gene expression profi...

Macrophages play essential roles in the immune defence and their hyperactivation has been implicated in epithelial damage in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), commonly observed in severe COVID-19 patients. In these cells, SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein triggers aberrant production of pro-inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and matrix meta...

Human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but aggressive neoplasm, arising from pleural mesothelial cells, generally due to asbestos exposure. Different growth factors are involved in the pathogenesis of MPM and in resistance to therapy; moreover, chemotherapy with cisplatin and antifolates, like pemetrexed (PEM), is the first-line treatment for inoperable MPM. Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), apart from stimulating GH secretion in the pituitary, exerts many...

Neurogenesis, a process by which new neurons are generated from precursors, still persists in discrete regions of the adult hippocampus. Impairment in neurogenesis is an important feature in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such asAlzheimer’s disease (AD). The hippocampus is critical for learning and memory and is a main target of AD, which causes massive neuronal death, reduction in neurogenesis and impairment in cognitive functions. Therefore, preventing...

Neurogenesis, a process by which new neurons are generated from precursors, still persists in discrete regions of the adult hippocampus. The hippocampus is critical for learning and memory and is a main target of AD, which causes massive neuronal death, reduction in neurogenesis and impairment in cognitive functions. Therefore, preventing neuronal loss or increasing the production of new neurons may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to reduce AD-induced cognitive decl...

Human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but aggressive neoplasm, arising from pleural mesothelial cells, generally due exposure to asbestos. Of note, different growth factors and their receptors are involved in the pathogenesis of MPM and resistance to therapy. Chemotherapy with cisplatin (cis) and antifolates, like pemetrexed (PEM), is the first-line treatment for inoperable MPM. Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), besides stimulating GH secretion in the ant...

Neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are generated from precursors, persists in discrete regions of the adult hippocampus. The hippocampus is critical for learning and memory and is the main target of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), which causes massive neuronal death, reduction in neurogenesis, and impairment in cognitive functions. Therefore, preventing neuronal loss or increasing the production of new neurons may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to reduce...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are mostly benign lesions originating from the anterior pituitary and represent 10–15% of all the intracranial neoplasms. PitNETs can be classified in non-secretory, clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs), and secretory, comprising prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH) and adrenocoticotropic hormone (ACTH) PitNETs. Surgical resection is the first line treatment for PitNETs, whereas chemotherapy and radiotherapy are p...

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), apart from stimulating GH secretion in the pituitary, exerts many extrapituitary functions, including stimulation of cell proliferation and survival. GHRH and its receptor splice variants (SVs) are expressed in different cancer cell types, where they modulate cell growth. It has been shown that GHRH antagonists exert anticancer activities in a variety of tumors, including malignant pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, one of the leadin...