Endocrine Abstracts

The human Short-chain alcohol Dehydrogenase Reductase (SDR) superfamily of oxoreductase enzymes regulate important endocrine hormones. Two SDR members, 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11bHSD) 1 & 2 have key roles in the pre-nuclear receptor modification of glucocorticoid steroids, thereby contributing to regulation of fluid homeostasis, blood pressure, metabolic pathways and brain function. We have recently characterised a third structurally related HSD enzyme, 11B-HSD1L...

Development of a functional human lung requires regulation of cell growth, proliferation and differentiation in specific germ layer compartments. Important endocrine regulators of respiratory development include glucocorticoid (GC) steroids and the potent synthetic GC betamethasone is commonly used antenatally to treat the deficits of very preterm human birth. Previous studies with conditional mouse knockouts of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene have established the mesenc...

Glucocorticoid (GC) signalling via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is essential for normal lung development. Previous work using conditional mouse knockouts of the GR gene established that GR activity in the mesenchymal compartment of the lung is critical for normal respiratory development. Screens for GC-target genes with conditional mesenchymal GR deficient mouse lung (GRmeskO) identified Versican (Vcan), an important extracellular matrix (ECM) component and cell proliferat...

The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) has a modular domain structure containing a C-terminal ligand-binding domain (LBD) that consists of 11 α-helices (designated H1 to H12) organized in an antiparallel helical sandwich. The LBD undergoes a conformational change upon aldosterone binding such that H12 forms a stable interaction with helices 3, 4 and 5 to create an AF-2 domain, a hydrophobic cleft on the surface of the LBD, which serves as a docking platform for transcription...