Endocrine Abstracts

6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH) is the third enzyme of the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway. The cytosolic form of this pathway is well characterised, but the details and significance of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) version are only beginning to be understood. We have previously identified hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH), which catalyses the first two steps of this pathway within the lumen of the ER, as a pivotal regulator of ER reductases s...

In peripheral target tissues, levels of active glucocorticoid hormones are controlled by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) which catalyses the reduction of cortisone to cortisol within the endoplasmic reticulum. For functional 11-ketoreductase activity, 11β-HSD1 requires the NADPH-generating enzyme hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH). Loss of 11-ketoreductase activity results in increased cortisol clearance and activation of the HPA axis wi...