Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Adrenocortical tumors (ACT) are classified as adenomas (ACA) or carcinomas (ACC). β-Catenin constitutive activation is a frequent alteration in benign and malignant ACT. E-cadherin was discovered as a protein associated with β-catenin which plays a crucial role in cadherin-mediated cell adhesion. N-cadherin seems to be involved in the development of malignant ACT, but information regarding expression of N-cadherin or E-cadherin in ACT is very limited....

The N-terminal fragment of human POMC consists of a 76 residue peptide (also known as pro-gamma-MSH) that contains the sequence of gamma-MSH in its C-terminus. Previous studies have demonstrated that the N-terminal portion not containing the gamma-MSH sequence is a potent adrenal mitogen while gamma-MSH itself can act synergistically with ACTH to increase steroid output.Since previous studies [1] have suggested that N-POMC 1-28 can stimulate the ERK path...

Background: Numerous studies have reported the role of the N-terminal of pro-opiomelanocortin (N-POMC1-76) and its smaller fragments; 1-28 and 1-49, in adrenal steroidogenesis and mitogenesis. A full understanding of this area will help to understand the pathophysiology of certain adrenal tumours but exactly how these peptides elicit this effect is unclear. We have recently identified an orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) as a possible N-POMC receptor. Preliminary data s...

The inhibition of aldosterone activity is a significant approach for preventing the progression of cardiovascular diseases in hypertensive patients. We hypothesized that N-type calcium channels might regulate aldosterone biosynthesis and firstly examined in vivo studies using rats. We investigated the effects of cilnidipine, an L-/N-type calcium channel blocker (CCB), and nifedipine, an L-type CCB, on aldosterone levels and found that only cilinidipine significantly red...

Introduction: Thyrotropin (TSH) and the gonadotropins (FSH, LH, hCG) are a family of heterodimeric glycoprotein hormones composed of two noncovalently linked subunits, α and β. hTSH, heterodimer was converted to a biologically active single-peptide chain, by fusing the common α subunit to the carboxyl-terminal end of hTSHβ subunit in the absence (hTSHβα) or presence of a ~30 aminoacid carboxyl-terminal peptide fr...

Introduction: Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels have been associated with the development of the metabolic syndrome. In particular, low SHBG levels have been proposed as an indicator of increased risk for metabolic syndrome in men. The (TAAAA)n repeat polymorphism SHBG gene is believed to affect SHBG levels. In vitro experiments have shown that the allele with 6 TAAAA repeats is associated with decreased transcriptional activity of SHBG gene. The aim of this study was...

Background of study: Twin studies have shown that age at menarche may be subject to hereditary influences but the specific determinants are unknown. Estrogens are known to have an important role in menarche. Since aromatase is responsible enzyme for the conversion of androgens to estrogens, the aromatase (CYP19) gene could be a candidate gene for the regulation of menarche. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of the CYP19(TTTA)n poly...

Solid tumours are very complex tissues comprising not only cancer cells, but also non-malignant stromal cells such as endothelial cells, fibroblasts, immune cells and extracellular matrix, forming the so called tumour microenvironment. In the last few years, it has become more and more evident the pivotal role of the tumour microenvironment in modulating cancer progression and metastasis. Tumour microenvironment has thus become a potential therapeutic target. To obtain an expe...

Marshall-Smith syndrome (MSS) is a congenital disorder affecting skeletal and neural development due to mutations in the nuclear factor I/X (NFIX) gene. Of these mutations, 61% are small insertions/deletions, 12% are splice site mutations and 27% are large exonic deletions clustered in exons 6–10 of the NFIX gene. In order to derive a MSS mouse model, the N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis DNA archive was screened ...

Disorders of male reproductive health, including testicular cancer, cryptorchidism, hypospadias and low sperm counts, are common and may be increasing in incidence. These conditions manifest at different life stages (low sperm counts and testicular cancer in adulthood; cryptorchidism and hypospadias at birth) but are proposed to originate in fetal life. These disorders have therefore been hypothesized to comprise a ‘testicular dysgenesis syndrome’ (TDS), which result...