Endocrine Abstracts

The melanocortin-2-receptor (MC(2) receptor), also known as the ACTH receptor, is a critical component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The importance of MC(2) receptor in adrenal physiology is exemplified by the condition familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD), a potentially fatal disease characterised by isolated cortisol deficiency. MC(2) receptor mutations cause ~25% of cases. The discovery of a MC(2) receptor accessory protein MRAP, mutations of which account...

The melanocortin-2-receptor (MC(2) receptor), also known as the ACTH receptor, is a critical component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The importance of MC(2) receptor in adrenal physiology is exemplified by the condition familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD), a potentially fatal disease characterised by isolated cortisol deficiency. MC(2) receptor mutations cause ~25% of cases. The discovery of a MC(2) receptor accessory protein MRAP, mutations of which account...

The importance of thyroid hormones in neurological development has been well documented in both animals and humans. Thyroid hormones deficit during fetal development can have irreversible adverse effects on an individual’s neurological function; including mental retardation, deafness, and spasticity. The only source of thyroid hormones for the developing brain in early pregnancy is from the mother. There is a growing body of epidemiological and experimental evidence to su...

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells derived from preimplantation embryo. In culture these cells can differentiate into a broad variety of cell types, such as nerve, muscle heart, blood cells and islet cells. This capacity for multilineage differentiation is retained during genetic manipulation and in vitro propagation. This has stimulated interest in the isolation of analogous cells of human origin. Such human pluripotent cells would constitute a renewable so...

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a key role in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, which is a hallmark of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Our previous studies have shown that CRTC2 can regulate glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism at the same time. However, it is still unclear whether CRTC2 participates in the EMT process of DKD.Methods: We used protein-protein network (PPI) analysis to determine differentially expressed genes in DKD ...

The medial amygdala (MeA) is crucial for sexual behavior; kisspeptin (Kiss1) also plays a role in sexual function. Kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1r) knockout mice display no sexual behavior. Recently Kiss1 and Kiss1r have been discovered in the posterodorsal subnucleus of the medial amygdala (MePD). We hypothesized that Kiss1 in the MePD may have an influence on male sexual behavior. To test this we bilaterally cannulated the MePD and infused kisspeptin-10 in male rats. This caused...

Study objective: To evaluate the long term outcomes of menorrhagia treated by microwave endometrial ablation(MEA) as well as the factors which influence the outcomes.Design: Prospective, single-arm study.Setting: GuangDong Women’s and Children’s Hospital, GuangDong, China.Patients: Three thirty four women with menorrhagia were selected for MEA, the age of these patients ranged from 29 to 59 years.</...

CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 are responsible for the final steps in cortisol and aldosterone synthesis, respectively, in human. These two genes share 95% identity in coding regions and 90% identity in introns, but have very dissimilar promoter regions. To investigate whether there is a regulatory link between human CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 genes, we analyzed their upstream sequences using a pattern-search program termed multiple index sequence alignment. Three co...

Objective: Recently rare heterozogous AMH genetic variants have been identified in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) that result in reduced AMH signaling. However, the exact functional mechanism remains unknown. Therefore, we have performed functional analyses to analyze the processing, secretion and signaling of these PCOS-specific AMH rare variants.Methods: Six PCOS-specific AMH variants containing mutations (V12G, P151S, P270S, P352S, P362S,...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), as a significant part of regenerative medicine, has been considered as a promising therapy in several diseases. Recently, the secretion effect of MSCs has been found to play a key role in the regulation of inflammatory. Here, we screened different peptides with high expression abundance by mass spectrometry from the supernatant of human umbilical cord MSCs. Also, we identified a peptide (AQTKRLVGDVLLATAFLSYSGP) named MSC-P2 derived from dynein axon...