Endocrine Abstracts

Somatostatin (sst) acts via five G-protein-coupled receptors (sstr) that effect angiogenesis, cell proliferation and apoptosis. We have reported the expression of these receptors in normal endometrium and in this study we have extended those observations to the expression of sstr subtypes 1, 2, 3, and 5 within hyperplastic and neoplastic endometrium using immunohistochemistry. METHOD The avidin-biotin-peroxidase method was used to immunostain formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ...

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is an important growth factor, simulating the process of angiogenesis which is required for tumour progression. It mainly acts through 2 receptors VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2. Whilst the presence of VEGF has been shown in pituitary adenomas, no study has undertaken the quantification of the expression of VEGF121, VEGF165, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2, and whether their expression may correlate.METHODS. We have used the technique of quantitative RT-...

The release of cytochrome c from mitochondria is often the trigger for the nuclear and cytoplasmic changes that characterise apoptotic cell death. Previously, we have shown that vascular endothelial cells of the line, EA.hy 926, undergo apoptosis in response to TNFalpha, camptothecin and oxidants and that this is blocked by the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (Dex). As a tool to determine where in the apoptotic pathway Dex acts to block the apoptotic process, we have developed a...