Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Knowledge about end-user perceptions is important to ensure educational resources have maximal impact.Objective: To understand school children’s perceptions and ideas about three endocrine topics.Methods: This activity was done as part of Society for Endocrinology public engagement grant. Years 5 and 6 school children (aged 10-11 years) from Nonsuch Primary School in Birmingham were invited to create posters on t...

Aim: Vitamin D-binding protein (DBP), also known as GC-globulin, transports vitamin D metabolites and is also a major actin scavenger. While DBP serum levels, gene polymorphisms and autoantigens have been associated with diabetes risk, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. DBP is produced by the liver, but has recently been shown to be highly expressed in pancreatic α-cells. We therefore sought to investigate the role of DBP in α-cell identity and function using ...

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are effective treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity. We recently described ‘biased’ peptide GLP-1R agonists modelled on exendin-4 which uncouple the pronounced endocytosis that usually accompanies GLP-1R activation, leading to prolongation of intracellular signalling responses. Here, we show that the metabolic consequences of biased GLP-1R activation in vivo are dominated by improvements in blood glucos...