Endocrine Abstracts

Apart from its role in energy storage, adipose tissue produces several hormones and cytokines termed ‘adipokines’ that have wide-ranging effects on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism; and thereby, play an important role in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. Visfatin is a novel adipokine, levels of which increase in obesity and is adipogenic; properties common to that of leptin. Thus, leptin may modulate visfatin production in adipose tissue. We investigated t...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) acts as a sensor and regulator of cellular energy homeostasis. Once activated, AMPK influences a number of responses including inhibition of anabolic pathways and the switching-on of catabolic pathways. Regulation of AMPK, which responds to an increase in the AMP/ATP ratio, could have an important role in chondrocyte function particularly in response to hormones and to stress such as occurs in osteoarthritis. Therefore, we sought to investig...

Visfatin is a controversial molecule secreted from adipose tissue and known to be positively correlated with body mass. Previous reports have suggested that visfatin interacts with the insulin receptor signalling pathway. Due to its high expression in visceral fat tissue and its initial reported insulin sensitising effects it has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, although this link has yet to be well established. Since insulin receptors are ...

NESFATIN-1 is a recently identified hypothalamic satiety molecule derived from its precursor protein, NEFA/nucleobindin2 (NUCB2). Although the hypothalamus is considered the cornerstone for maintenance of energy homeostasis, adipose tissue plays an important role in the integration of metabolic activity and energy balance; communicating with peripheral organs and the brain via secreted proteins, termed adipokines. Many hypothalamic satiety regulatory peptides have been describ...

Background: Birth weight has important consequences for later health, including the development of the metabolic syndrome. Tissue sensitivity to cortisol is regulated, in part, by the GR and alterations in its expression occur in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Low birth weight is associated with increased fat mass and down-regulation of PPARα, in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs.Objectives: To examine whether birth weight influences GR or PPARα m...

Context: Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator gene. Hypoparathyroidism occurs in 80% of patients with APS1 and has been suggested to result from an autoimmune reaction against the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) on parathyroid cells. Previously, we have detected CaSR-binding antibodies in patients with APS1 using immunoprecipitation and flow cytometry assays.Obj...

Oestrogen receptor (ER) activity has a wide spectrum of functions in the human body, including the development, growth and maintenance of the reproductive system. There are two ER subtypes, ERα and ERβ. The latter exists as multiple splice variants (ERβ1, ERβ2 and ERβ5) some of which lack a steroid ligand-binding domain. ERs act as steroid-ligand activated transcription factors. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) acting via the MAP kinase pathway has been s...

Aims/hypothesis: Resistin could be implicated in the mechanism of insulin resistance and recent evidence suggests this occurs, in part, via a brain-dependent pathway. Given the emerging role of hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the modulation of appetite and glucose levels, we hypothesized that its activity would be modulated by resistin. To verify such a pathway, we employed the N-1 hypothalamic neuronal cell line, which expresses a variety of neuropeptides ...

Estrogen Receptor (ER) regulation of target gene transcription is a significant factor in tumor development and progression. Previous work on ER-mediated transcription focused primarily on promoter regions of target genes, although recent work from our lab combining ER Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with tiled microarrays covering chromosomes 21 and 22, showed that distal enhancers appear to be the primary ER binding sites, and that these sites require the Forkhead prote...

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator gene. Major disease components include mucocutaneous candidiasis, hypoparathyroidism and Addison’s disease. Acquired hypoparathyroidism (AH) occurs in 80% of APS1 patients and is associated with hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia and low serum levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Reports suggest that these clinical symptoms are initiated by...