Endocrine Abstracts

The aim of this symposium is to introduce and to discuss current concepts regarding stem cells and their potential use in therapy with special focus on endocrinological applications. Stem cells are defined by their ability for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. They are classified into embryonic and adult (tissue-specific) stem cells. Derivation, characterization and testing the functional activities of stem cells in vitro and vivo will be discussed. ...

Human bone marrow stromal cells (hMSC) contain a population of stem cells known as skeletal (mesenchymal) stem cells that are capable for differentiation into several mesodermal-type lineages including osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes. The aim of our research program is to understand the biological characteristics of hMSC so that it is possible to make full use of them in the context of clinical applications. The following topics will be discussed: i) approaches to iso...

UO-44 is a novel protein of unknown function which was described in uterus, medium-size ovarian follicles, oviduct and pancreas of different mammalian species. Using differential display analysis in preimplantation rat uteri, Chen et al. 1999 cloned and described it as an estradiol responsive gene named estrogen regulated gene 1 (ERG-1). Subsequent characterization showed that its expression was modified through pregnancy. The human ortholog (HuUO-44) was cloned and cha...

Background: Also known as preadipocyte factor 1 (pref-1) or delta-like 1 (Dlk1), fetal antigen 1 (FA1) was originally isolated from amniotic fluid and it is involved in tissue homeostatis during development and tissue regeneration in the post-natal organisms. FA1 may also plays a role in energy metabolism since mice deficient in FA1 are obese and mice overexpressing FA1 exhibit a lipodystrophy phenotype.In our study we determined FA1 serum levels in pati...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are developed for cell based therapeutic strategies and undergo cellular stress during ex vivo procedures. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) of environmental and cellular origin are involved in redox signaling, cumulative cell damage, senescence and tumor development. Selenium independent (superoxide dismutases 1 and 2 (SOD1 and SOD2) and catalase (CAT)) and selenium dependent (glutathione peroxidases (GPx), thioredoxin reductases (TrxR)) enzyme...

Introduction: Thyroid cancer (TC) in adolescents and adults (AYA) is defined as thyroid cancer diagnosed among those aged between 15-39 years. It is the fifth most common cancer in AYAs, and its incidence is increasing. Compared with older adult patients, the AYA with TC has a higher prevalence of node metastasis which represents a risk factor for recurrence.Aim: To describe the characteristics of thyroid carcinoma with confirmed nodal metastases at the ...

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by the loss of bone density and deficits in bone microarchitecture. “Diabetoporosity” is a new term for osteoporosis in diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) patients, where classical tools for the assessment of bone properties like dual x-ray absorptiometry or bone turnover markers are lacking prognostic accuracy for the determination of bone quality and fracture risk.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are get...