Endocrine Abstracts

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer. Given dramatic improvements in survival rate (>80%), long term quality of life is of rising concern. Skeletal complications including osteonecrosis (ON) are being reported more frequently, affecting up to 38% of children treated for ALL though the pathogenesis is unclear.The purpose of this study is to examine possible mechanisms causing ON. We hypothesize that polychemotherapy ...

In addition to its central role in the control of thyrocyte growth and function, the TSHR is expressed during the differentiation of mesenchymal precursors. To explore further, we have developed an in vitro model in which TSHR activation is achieved by introducing constitutively active (M453T, L629F) TSHR, using retroviral vectors.We aimed to investigate the effect of TSHR activation on body composition, via the production of TNFα and express...

GH has diverse direct effects including the induction of lipolysis in adipocytes and mineralisation in bone. Interestingly, pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells can be isolated and cultured from adult bone marrow and induced to differentiate in vitro to both adipocytes and osteoblasts. GHR activation can be coupled to JAK2/STAT5 and the ERK (MAPK) pathway. We have therefore studied the evolution of GHR-associated cell signalling in adult rat BMSC’s during differentia...