Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) signalling pathway is an element of the innate immune response and is activated by the presence of DNA in the cytosol. Triggering of this immune response may occur in the setting of infection or neoplasia. Activation of this pathway results in phosphorylation of interferon regulatory factor 3 and downstream transcription of cytokines such as interferon β and interleukin-6. Polyinosinic:pol...

Introduction: AIP mutations are responsible for 15-30% of cases of familial isolated pituitary adenomas. The pathophysiology that drives this AIP-related pituitary tumorigenesis is not fully understood. We developed a pituitary-specific Aip knockout (KO) mouse model, which mostly recapitulates the human phenotype.Aims: To performed comparative gene expression analysis of Aip-KO mouse pituitary tumours and AIP mutation positive ...

Introduction: Acromegaly links to cardiomyopathy and potential cardiac failure, if untreated. Mechanisms involved in acromegalic cardiomyopathy are incompletely understood. We investigated the effects of growth hormone (GH) excess and somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) on cardiac fibrosis using an acromegalic mouse model with pituitary-specific deletion of the Aip gene coding aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AipFlox/Flox;Hesx1<su...

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are the second most common subtype (15-43%) of all clinically presenting pituitary adenomas. Although the primary treatment of symptomatic NFPAs is surgery, gross total resection is achieved only in about 66% of the cases, and 20% of gross total resected tumours recur after 10 years. Despite recent advances in medical management of pituitary tumours, NFPAs remain the only subtype with no widely accepted pharmacological treatment. Expr...

Introduction: Germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) gene predispose to growth hormone (GH, 90% of patients) or prolactin (PRL)-secreting tumours, with negligible number of patients with other pituitary tumour types. Animal models of acromegaly are scarce and Aip models have controversial data. Therefore we have generated two pituitary-specific Aip knockout mouse models to study the consequences of loss of AIP p...

Background: There is no effective medical treatment available for non-functioning pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (NF-PitNETs). Recurrence (7-12%) or incomplete resection (30-45%) is a common feature. Thus, finding novel medical therapies to help the management of these tumours would be of great value. By using high-throughput mass spectrometry combined with functional characterisation, we explored novel therapeutic targets for NF-PitNETs.<p class="abstex...