Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: Several different pathogenic mechanisms may converge on a final common pathway to produce the phenotype of delayed pubertal timing. Abnormal pubertal timing affects >4% of adolescents and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Up to 80% of variation in the timing of pubertal onset is genetically determined. Self-limited delayed puberty (DP) segregates in an autosomal dominant pattern, but in the majority the neuroendocrine pathophysiology and genetic regul...

Background: Aberrations in the timing of puberty may result in significant adverse health outcomes, including cancers, cardiovascular and neurological pathologies. Self-limited delayed puberty (DP) (i.e. constitutional delay of puberty) runs in families with either autosomal dominant or complex inheritance patterns in >70% of families, indicating a strong genetic basis of the trait. However, only a few genes have been identified underlying DP so far....

Background: The initiation of puberty is heralded by increasing gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion from the hypothalamus. During embryonic life the GnRH neuroendocrine network develops thanks to a coordinated migration of neurons from the nasal placode to the forebrain. Our group has previously demonstrated that dysregulation in GnRH neuronal migration leads to delayed pubertal onset. Late puberty affects up to 2% of the population and is associated with adverse h...

Triple A syndrome (AAAS) is a rare, incurable, homozygous disorder, characterised by tissue-specific degeneration resulting in adrenal failure and neurodisability. The AAAS gene encodes ALADIN, a nuclear pore complex (NPC) protein necessary for nuclear import of DNA protective molecules, important for redox homeostasis. ALADIN’s role is not fully characterised: its discovery at the centrosome and the endoplasmic reticulum suggests a role outside the NPC. The inte...