Endocrine Abstracts

The full-length retinoblastoma interacting zinc-finger protein (RIZ), codified by ten exons, has tumour suppressive and differentiating properties and is known to be a downstream effector in classical oestrogen target tissue. In many normal and malignant tissues alternative splicing isoforms, RIZ1 and RIZ2, frame-shift mutations and/or exon deletions have been found, but their oncogenic role is still debated. Although the presence of RIZ1 in the testis has been described, in g...

Somatostatin (SS) receptors (SSR) expression may be modulated by estrogens in breast cancer cells. Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of estradiol (E2) on SSR levels in prostate epithelial cells (PEC).Methods: We investigated the effects of E2 and SS-analogue SOM230 combined treatment on two PEC lines: EPN that expresses both ERalfa and beta and CPEC, showing no ERalfa and very low ERbeta expression. Cells starved in red ...

Introduction: The presence of truncated variant of somatostatin receptors (SSTR) has been demonstrated in pituitary tumours. These variants seems act as dominant negative of SSTR and induce the resistance to SST analogue (SSTA) treatment. A variant of SSTR5, sst5TMD4, has been found to disrupt SST signalling in breast cancer cells. In present study, we assayed the expression of sst5TMD4 in two non-transformed epithelial prostate cell lines (EPC): EPN, derived from a normal sur...

Prokineticin 1 (Prok1), the product of EGVEGF/PROK 1 gene, acts through two G-coupled receptors (PKR1 and PKR2) and is involved in a wide spectrum of actions, including tumorigenesis. Increased Prok1 expression has been found in prostate hyperplasia and cancer, suggesting a role in prostate cancer and BPH. Aim of this study was to elucidate the role of Prok1 on prostate cell function and growth. We evaluated the effects of Prok1 on epithelial prostate cell (PC) migration and p...

Polyclonal antibodies against somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) available up to now recognizing intracellular sites of receptors and their recycling products do not detect bioactive ligand binding domains (LBDs) and are of limited performance in paraffin-embedded tissues. Aim of this study was to evaluate by immunohistochemistry the expression of SSTR5 on an archival series of pituitary tumors using a new MoAbs against the SST-binding domain (Y-SSTR5).Metho...

Raloxifene (RAL) is a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator (SERM) proposed for chemoprevention of breast cancer and osteoporosis. SERMs exert agonist–antagonist effects depending on tissue or ERs expressed. RAL induces apoptosis in both androgen-dependent and independent cell lines, suggesting a selective activation of ERβ and prevalent antagonist effect on ERα in prostate cells (PC). In this study we evaluated effects of estradiol (E2) and RAL on epitheli...