Endocrine Abstracts

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Melanocortin receptors (MCR), which belong to the superfamiliy of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), are preferentially coupled to Gs proteins and play a major role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. In line with this notion, mutations in the MC4R gene are the most frequent monogenic cause of severe obesity in human beings. Surprisingly, MC4R mutations isolated from obese candidates showed both increased or decreased potency to promote the Gs signalling pathway when ove...

Melanocortin receptors (MCR), which belong to the superfamiliy of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), are preferentially coupled to Gs proteins and play a major role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. In line with this notion, mutations in the MC4R gene are the most frequent monogenic cause of severe obesity in human beings. Recently it has been shown that the MC4R receptor undergoes, similar to most GPCR, GPCR kinase (GRK) and arrestin-mediated ligand-promoted receptor ...

Metallothioneins (MT) are cystein-rich intracellular proteins which exert anti-apoptotic effects by protecting cells against oxidative stress and DNA damage. Previously, expression of MT in normal and neoplastic thyroid tissue has been demonstrated. However, the thyroidal regulation of MT expression is widely unsettled. Thus, we investigated the expression of MT isoform 1 in human thyroid carcinoma cells (FTC-133-TSHR) upon stimulation with thyrotropin (TSH). Using quantitativ...

The malignant phenotype of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells critically relies on the autocrine stimulation of G12/13- and Gq/11-coupled neuropeptide receptors. By this means, G12/13- and Gq/11-dependent signalling pathways are constitutively activated in these cells. While Gq/11-dependent signalling has been shown to promote proliferation of SCLC cells, the role of signalling pathways via G12/13 is still elus...

Upon adhesion to the zona pellucida, mammalian sperm undergo regulated exocytosis of the acrosome. Despite the difference in size, some parallels can be drawn concerning the signal transduction processes controlling the sperm acrosome reaction and synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Since components of signal transduction pathways are often organized in multiprotein signalling complexes, attempts were made to identify scaffolding proteins expressed in the acrosomal region of mammalia...

The G protein subunit α-gustducin is generally accepted as a marker for chemosensitive cells. Since chemosensation is especially important for the navigation of sperm towards the egg, attempts were made to explore whether α-gustducin might also be expressed in spermatozoa. RT-PCR experiments revealed that a gustducin PCR specific RNA fragment with the predicted size could be amplified from total mouse and rat testis. To identify the testicular cell type in which &#94...

Rationale: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is a hallmark of primary aldosteronism and paves the way for subsequent atherosclerotic disease. Past research has confirmed that one factor involved in ED is disturbed nitric oxide (NO) signalling. Since defects in NO release alone cannot explain the whole effect, we set out to address the role of endothelial CYP-expoygenase products (epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, EETs) in aldosterone-mediated endothelial dysfunction.<p class="abstext"...