Endocrine Abstracts

Patients with glucocorticoid (GC) excess develop insulin resistance and central obesity. We have demonstrated that GCs have tissue-specific effects on insulin sensitivity in humans, causing resistance in skeletal muscle but sensitivity in subcutaneous adipose tissue. The molecular mechanisms that underpin these differences remain poorly understood. Over the last decade small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs–miRNAs) controlling protein expression have been identified, representi...

The human pituitary tumor transforming gene (hPTTG) is overexpressed in thyroid cancers; it induces genetic instability and propagates growth through the induction of growth factors. We investigated the pathways of interaction between hPTTG and epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) in vitro and in vivo. Synchronised K1 and TPC-1 papillary thyroid...

Iodide uptake via the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) is reduced in many thyroid cancers, resulting in poor prognosis following treatment with 131I. The pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) and its binding factor (PBF) are proto-oncogenes implicated in thyroid tumourigenesis and we previously demonstrated PTTG and PBF-induced repression of NIS in vitro. We have recently generated murine transgenic models of targeted overexpression of PBF and PTTG in the thy...

Adrenal insufficiency (AI) is life-threatening and can present alone or in combination with other co-morbidities. Acute porphyria attacks can also be serious, resulting in permanent disability or death and symptoms can be similar to AI. Previous literature describing hormonal perturbations in porphyria suggest an association between the two conditions. We were referred a family with 4 individuals with porphyria and AI, the clinical picture included global developmental delay, ...