Endocrine Abstracts

Somatic mutations in splicing factor 3 subunit B1 (SF3B1) were found in about 20% of PRL-secreting PitNETs. SF3B1 is involved in pre-mRNA splicing and required for assembly of the U2 complex, which is critical for branch site recognition and the early stages of spliceosome assembly. Patients with mutant prolactinomas showed higher PRL levels and shorter progression-free survival compared to wild-type patients. Aims of the present study were: 1) to characterize the genetic prof...

Dopamine receptor type 2 (DRD2) agonists (DA) are the first-choice treatment for prolactin (PRL)-secreting pituitary tumors, but poorly effective in non-functioning (NF)-PitNETs. Along with G protein-dependent signaling, DRD2 also mediates non-canonical beta-arrestin-dependent pathways, where reduction of AKT phosphorylation plays a leading role for the antiproliferative effect of DRD2 in pituitary tumors. Through UNC9994 and MLS1547, a beta-arrestin 2-biased and a G protein-b...

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) are rare endocrine tumors with poor prognosis. They overexpress the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), that drives a proliferative autocrine loop by binding to IGF1R and IR. The majority of studies focused on IGF1R as mediator of IGF2 biological effects, but recently a high expression of IR, in particular of the isoform A, was observed in most ACCs, suggesting a potential role of this receptor in modulating IGF2 effects in adrenocortical tumo...

Dopamine receptor type 2 (DRD2) represents the main target for pharmacological therapy with dopamine agonists (DAs) in PRL-secreting neuroendocrine pituitary tumors (PRL-PitNET), even if about 10% of patients is resistant. A single paper recently described a somatic mutation in the gene encoding splicing factor 3B subunit 1 (SF3B1) in about 20% of patients with PRL-PitNET, that was associated with PRL hypersecretion, increased cell proliferation and invasion and reduced progre...