Endocrine Abstracts

Mice have been used as a model system in biomedicine for several decades. As mammals their relevance to human endocrinology is substantially greater than many other model systems such as flies, worms and yeast. Mice are also easily adapted to various experimental conditions with human relevance. Most importantly, the mouse genome is well annotated, it can be precisely engineered by several powerful ways, and international consortia have recently produced variety novel tools for efficiently manipulate the mouse genome (http://www.knockoutmouse.org/). By applying these tools a growing number of genetically modified (GM) mice have been produced, providing novel information about the endocrine regulation of organ systems and new insight on the molecular mechanisms of actions of reproductive hormones. It is well recognized that the function of numerous of genes and their protein products have been finally resolved using GM mouse models, while several of hypotheses drawn by studies in vitro have failed when tested in whole organism. Endocrinology, with several organ system interactions, in particular, is a research area where models in vivo are of great importance.

As the possibilities to carry out clinical research on endocrine systems in humans are limited, we need novel experimental approaches. For this, GM mice provide excellent opportunity. The techniques applied in analyzing endocrine function GM male mice include, among others, the analysis of macroscopic anatomy and histology of endocrine glands and target organs at various ages, assessment of reproductive performance and behaviour, analyses of hormones and their receptors, and analyses of the signalling pathways potentially affected. Carrying out the analyses at different periods of life, representing differentiation, development, maturation and involution allow us to obtain a global view about the putative changes in the endocrine functions during the life span. However, there are also significant differences in the structure and functions of the endocrine systems between mouse and human, and these differences are to be acknowledged when mouse models are applied.