Endocrine Abstracts

Feral cat numbers in the UK are thought to number around one million and the Dogs Trust estimates it dealt with just over 110 000 stray and abandoned dogs in 2013. This scenario is common across the world and in the developing world in particular the control of feral populations is an ongoing challenge as well as a huge welfare issue. The only options currently available are expensive surgical neutering, or euthanasia of otherwise healthy animals. There is an urgent need to de...

Oestrogen receptor (ER) activity has a wide spectrum of functions in the human body, including the development, growth and maintenance of the reproductive system. There are two ER subtypes, ERα and ERβ. The latter exists as multiple splice variants (ERβ1, ERβ2 and ERβ5) some of which lack a steroid ligand-binding domain. ERs act as steroid-ligand activated transcription factors. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) acting via the MAP kinase pathway has been s...