Endocrine Abstracts

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an acute phase protein expressed in the advanced atherosclerotic lesions and produced by endothelial cells, macrophages and, in rodents also by adipocytes under tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) exposure. We investigated if PTX3 is expressed in human adipose tissue and is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors.Methods: Samples of subcutaneous (SAT) and omental visceral (VAT) adipose tissue were obtained from 21 obese (...

Some people with obesity have hormonal, metabolic and circulatory changes that constitute the metabolic syndrome that resemble characteristics of patients with Cushing's syndrome. A link between the two conditions, possibly genetic, has therefore been suspected, and the glucocorticoid receptor gene (GRL, 5q31-q32) has been one of the candidate genes.The single nucleotide polymorphism N363S is an ATT to GTT missense alteration within exon 2 of G...

Activating mutations of the RET proto-oncogene, encoding a tyrosine kinase receptor, are associated with inherited syndromes, MEN2A and MEN2B, and with both familial and sporadic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Single base-pair missense mutations in the extracellular cysteine-rich domain are responsible for the majority of MEN2A and familial MTC (FMTC) cases. Rarely, somatic deletions and germline duplications of variable segments of the gene have been reported in spora...

In human adipocytes the cAMP-dependent pathway mediates signals originating from the activation of beta-adrenergic receptors, thus playing a key role in the regulation of important metabolic processes such as lipolysis and thermogenesis. CyclicAMP effects are mainly mediated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), a tetrameric enzyme composed by two catalytic subunits associated with two regulatory (R) subunits. There are four different R subunit genes and proteins (R1A, R1B, ...

Desmond G Johnston, Campus Dean, St Mary’s Hospital Campus, Imperial College London, London, UK Director, UK Diabetes Research Network AbstractProfessor Johnston trained in Edinburgh and Southampton where, as an MRC Training Fellow, he did his PhD with Professor George Alberti. His work at that time investigated metabolic disturbances in liver disease and metabolic aspects of endocrinology.I...