Endocrine Abstracts

Activation of the Ras/ERK pathway and stimulation of proliferation by integrins in thyroid cells requires CaMKII activation. To date, whether this role of CaMKII is a general mechanism or is restricted to integrin signalling is unknown. As oncogenic activation of the Ras/ERK pathway by mutated Ras, RET/PTC and Trk is frequent in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), we investigated the expression and activation level of CaMKII in PTC primary culture and in stable cell lines.<...

TTF1/NKX2.1 is a transcription factor expressed in thyroid, lung and brain. Several heterozygous mutations have been described in patients with primary congenital hypothyroidism, respiratory distress and benign hereditary chorea, typical aspects of the ‘thyroid–lung–brain syndrome’.We recently studied a family affected by some of these features, and the direct sequencing of the NKX2.1 gene demonstrated an heterozygous deletion of a cy...