Endocrine Abstracts

The formation of the placental syncytiotrophoblast through trophoblast differentiation is a key cellular event, essential for successful embryonic implantation, oxygen/nutrient transport and secretion of placental hormones necessary for fetal development. Trophoblast differentiation alters expression of various molecules with important roles in placental biology, including 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2), the major component of the placental glucoc...

The family of adrenergic receptors contains nine different subtypes of G protein-coupled receptors which mediate the biological effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline. With few exceptions, the full therapeutic potential of subtype-selective therapy has not yet been explored for the group of adrenergic receptors. In the absence of sufficiently subtype-selective ligands which can distinguish between individual receptor subtypes of the adrenergic family, gene-targeted mouse mode...

Background: A thyroid nodule is a discrete lesion within the thyroid gland, which can serve as a prelude to a spectrum of conditions ranging from a benign incidental growth to a full-blown invasive carcinoma. Thyroid nodules are very common in adult population. About 15% of the UK population have clinically detectable goitres or thyroid nodules, and the lifetime risk of developing a thyroid nodule is around 5 to 10%. In addition, there is increasing risk of thyroid cancers in ...