Endocrine Abstracts

Reduced expression or activity of the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are common events in cancer, suggesting that these receptors could act as tumor suppressors. We have previously shown that TRβ expression in SK-hep1 hepatocarcinoma cells (SK-TRβ cells), reduces tumor growth and strikingly inhibits invasion, extravasation, and metastasis formation in nude mice. These effects could be related to a decreased expression in these cells of prometastatic genes, such as C...

The sex hormone 17β-estradiol (E2) exerts its pleiotropic effects through the binding to the ligand-activated transcription factor estrogen receptor alpha (ERa). The E2:ERa complex regulates several physiological processes including cell survival and proliferation through transcriptional (i.e., estrogen responsive element (ERE)-based gene transcription) and non-transcriptional membrane-initiated effects (i.e., activation of signalling cascades).Many...

Protein ubiquitination modulates many physiological processes (e.g. cell proliferation). The ubiquitin-based signalling consists in both proteolytic and non-proteolytic functions: the first ones require modification of the target protein with polyubiquitination, a modification that induces the activation of the 26S-proteasome, whereas the second ones can be based on protein monoubiquitination. The recognition of ubiquitination diversity is dependent on specific Ub receptors th...

Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signals through activation of Smad transcription factors, which bind to Smad binding elements (SBEs) in target genes. TGFβ can promote cancer cell proliferation and invasion, and plays a key role in the pathogenesis of scleroderma and other fibrotic disorders. We have previously shown that the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) can block tumor growth and invasion. We now have analyzed the possibility that TRs could antagonize TGF...

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease impairs physical performance from an early stage of disease, and the impairment is a critical medical problem because lowered physical activity correlates with renal prognosis and mortality, and constitutes an independent cardiovascular risk for chronic kidney disease patients, with as high an impact as hypertension and diabetes. In this study, the time course and mechanism of muscle insufficiency in renal failure were investigated using 5/...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of Tribulus terrestris (TT) on immune function in over-trained rats and explore the mechanisms – the role of glucocorticoid (GC) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR).Methods: Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, over-trained group and over-trained+TT group. The last two groups were trained on a motor-driven treadmill with a progressively increased load for 6 weeks. The over-trained+TT...

Nuclear receptors control gene expression by recruiting transcriptional coactivators (or corepressors). The coactivators are ‘master regulators’ that coordinately activate multiple distinct transcription factors and target genes and pathways to control major physiologic processes such as reproduction, inflammation, metabolism and growth. Because of their central role as ‘nodes’ of regulation, coactivators are major targets in the development of numerous inh...