Endocrine Abstracts

Nuclear receptors regulate many developmental processes and a vast array of physiological responses. They control the expression of subsets of specific genes by recruiting co-factors that can function either as co-activators or co-repressors to either stimulate or repress gene transcription. Using the ligand-binding domain of the estrogen receptor as bait we identified a receptor interacting protein of MW 140Kd that we called RIP140. Examination of RIP140 null mice showed two ...

Dietary fat has been correlated with obesity since it induces the proliferation and differentiation of pre-adipocytes. However it has become clear that the effect of fat on human health depends on the composition and the nature of fatty acids. Arachidonic acid (AA) is a major omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with a controversial role in adipocyte differentiation. We investigated the effect of a brief AA exposure on pre-adipocyte differentiation. We show that a short t...

Dietary fat has been correlated with obesity since it induces the proliferation and differentiation of pre-adipocytes. Now it has become clear that the effect of fat on human health depends on the composition and the nature of fatty acids. Arachidonic acid (AA) is a major omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with a controversial role in adipocyte differentiation. We investigated the effect on pre-adipocyte differentiation after a brief exposure to AA.<p class="abstext...

Introduction: Pregnancy is associated with maternal metabolic adaptations (increased cholesterol and triglycerides) that are essential for the development and maintenance of the fetus. Physiological and behavioural changes are driven via biological clocks entrained by the light–dark/rest–activity cycles that define feeding time and body temperature. A number of oscillators are present in the peripheral organs that are synchronised by cues from the suprachiasmatic nuc...

The nuclear receptor co-factor RIP140 has an essential role in metabolic regulation. Genetically manipulated mice lacking RIP140 show reduced fat accumulation, increased energy expenditure and increased insulin sensitivity. They gain less weight on high fat feeding than wild type littermates, and are protected from both age and high fat diet induced insulin resistance.RIP140 is a repressor of transcription and in its absence metabolic gene networks are u...

Introduction: Normal pregnancy is characterised by dyslipidaemia which progresses with gestational age as a consequence of the growing energy demands of the mother and developing fetus. Specifically, there is an increase in the maternal plasma cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid concentrations.Liver X receptor (Lxr) is a nuclear receptor which promotes cholesterol clearance and de novo lipogenesis.Hypothesis: We hyp...

Introduction: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific liver disorder which is associated with higher incidence of gallstone disease. ICP symptoms are usually presented in the third trimester of gestation and their severity advances in parallel with the increase in serum sulphated progesterone metabolites (P4-S) in the mother. Liver X receptor α (LXRα) actively participates in the regulation of lipid metabolism functioning as a cholesterol ...

Hyperandrogenism in women, most typically in polycystic ovary syndrome, is associated with insulin resistance and altered morphology and function of adipose tissue but little is known about the direct effects of androgen on adipose. The aims of this study were to investigate (1) distribution and relative abundance of androgen receptor (AR) in mouse adipose tissue (2) effect of temperature on AR expression in brown and white adipose depots (BAT, WAT) and (3) effects of androgen...

PGC1 and RIP140 are key regulators of nuclear receptor signalling that control metabolic gene expression in adipose tissue, liver and muscle. PGC1 promotes whereas RIP140 represses the expression of a network of catabolic genes in adipose and muscle. Thus mice devoid of RIP140 accumulate less fat in adipose tissue and liver while mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration is increased in type 2 muscle fibres; as a consequence, the mice maintain their insulin sensitivity as they ...