Endocrine Abstracts

Ilpo Huhtaniemi, Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Finland and Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, London, UK AbstractIlpo Huhtaniemi received his MD (1972) and PhD (1974) degrees at University of Helsinki, Finland, did his postdoctoral training in the US (UCSF and NIH, Bethesda), and has been a visiting scientist in Germany (University of Heidelberg) ...

There is a plethora of information about the extragonadal expression of gonadotrophin receptors (R), i.e. for LH/hCG and FSH, many of the studies published in high-profile journals. LHCGR has been found to be expressed in almost all organs of the body, and FSHR is expressed in fat and bone tissues, as well as in multiple malignant tumours. On the basis of these findings it has been proposed that direct gonadotrophin action participat...

The main functions of the two pituitary gonadotrophic hormones, luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and of the placental choriongonadotropin (hCG), are well characterized today. In clinical medicine, gonadotrophin measurements in peripheral serum form a valuable tool in the diagnosis of disorders in sexual development and fertility, and gonadotrophins are the mainstay in infertility treatments. A great deal of the new information about physiology a...

The ageing of men is affected by gender-specific environmental and lifestyle factors. In addition, hereditary factors in the form of gene polymorphisms apparently contribute to the large interindividual variability of the basal activity and age-related decline of the male pituitary–gonadal function. Only limited information is currently available on polymorphisms in genes affecting the regulation, production, actions and metabolisms of androgens. Therefore, the assessment...

The recent discovery of human mutations in genes encoding gonadotrophins and their receptors has greatly expanded our knowledge about the pituitary-gonadal function. Further information has been obtained from the numerous gene-modified animal models where the normal pituitary-gonadal function has been disrupted either by transgenic or gene disruption techniques. These studies have unravelled, for instance, the specific functions of the two gonadotropins, FSH and LH, in the abs...

As in all fields of the life sciences, enormous development has taken place in my special field of interest, i.e. reproductive endocrinology, during the nearly 50 years’ time that I have been involved in basic and clinical research. My research has focused to large extent on functions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and more specifically on physiology and pathophysiology of gonadotrophin function. My research career in not unlike the human life-span, because my...

Testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) are the two most important sex steroids in men and women, respectively, and their accurate determination in serum is of crucial importance in assessing gonadal function both in clinical management and research. The limitations of serum T and E2 measurements using non-extraction platform immunoassays (IA) are widely recognized. Switching to more specific mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods has been advocated but directly comparative data on ...

Rapid activation of diverse signal transduction pathways is thought to play an integral role in the cellular responses to many steroid hormones, including progesterone. This sex steroid is essential for normal reproduction in nearly all species. The recent cloning of a G-protein coupled receptor with the properties of a membrane progestin receptor (mPR) in fish and the subsequent identification of three mammalian homologues (mPR-alpha, -beta, and -gamma) raised the possibility...

The gonadotrophin receptors, luteinising hormone receptor (LHR) and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) are G-protein coupled receptors, vital in regulating reproductive functions. Whilst FSHR and LHR are known to form homomers, and have been recently shown to heterodimerise/oligomerise, the functional and physiological significance of LHR/FSHR heteromerisation remains elusive. This study aimed to explore the functional significance of LHR/FSHR crosstalk, exploring me...

The gonadotropic hormones, LH and FSH are critical regulators of normal sexual functions including steroidogenesis and gametogenesis. Their essential role is underscored by the development of various hypogonadal phenotypes arising from genetic mutations. Constitutive activation of their cognate receptors also disturbs their function. We earlier showed that transgenic expression of an activating mouse Fshr mutant (mFSHRD580H) in granulosa c...