Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy. Currently the main therapeutic option is surgery, but due to difficult and delayed diagnosis and to the onset of metastases, medical therapy is often tried. ACC treatment is mainly represented by Mitotane alone or in association with chemotherapy, with variable results. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate ACC proliferation could be useful to identify new therapeutic options. Sunitinib, a multitar...

Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is the second most common thyroid malignant epithelial tumor. It is clinically asymptomatic, usually represented by a single nodule, less often multiple, with origin from thyroid follicular epithelial cells. Despite its well-differentiated characteristics, FTC may develop distant metastases through hematogenous dissemination. The molecular alterations involved in the pathogenesis of follicular neoplasia are not completely known. Recent studie...

TIM16 a component of the translocase complex TIM23 of the mitochondrial inner membrane is encoded by the Magmas gene. Magmas was found to be over-expressed in human pituitary adenomas. Silencing Magmas in ACTH secreting rat pituitary adenoma cells enhances sensitivity to pro-apoptotic stimuli. Moreover, Magmas overexpression protects GH secreting rat pituitary adenoma cell lines towards apoptosis. Recently, we found that compound 5, a TIM16 inhibitor, is not cytotoxic but enha...