Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Nuclear retinoid receptors (RARs) upon a ligand binding act as all-trans retinoic acid-inducible transcription factors interacting as heterodimers with nuclear retinoid X (rexinoid) receptors (RXRs). The disruption of retinoic acid (RA) signalling pathways is believed to underlie the etiology of a number of malignancies. Retinoids – cell differentiation agents that may ‘reprogram’ tumours, i.e. retinoic acid derivatives or retinoic acid related com...

Background: The immortalised human granulosa cell line (hGL5) is not responding to gonadotropins, which fail to activate the cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway, progesterone production, cell rounding and apoptosis, suggesting that FSH- and LH/hCG-receptors (FSHR; LHCGR) are downregulated.Aim: To investigate whether the mechanism of FSHR/LHCGR downregulation is associated with life/death signals in hGL5 cells.Methods: We evaluated the FSHR/LHCGR...

The human somatostatin receptor 3 (hsst3) is expressed in about 50% of all neuroendocrine tumours. The sst3 receptor is unique among somatostatin receptors which can initiate apoptosis of tumour cells through activation of the tumour suppressor p53. Furthermore, treatment of the sst3 receptor with somatostatin or stable somatostatin analogues such as octreotide or pasireotide can inhibited tumour cell proliferation. However, at present little is known about the agonist-induced...

Evidences for a functional link between insulin receptor (IR) and β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) exist in the mouse heart and in retina and are correlated with the cardiovascular dysfunction under insulin-resistant states1 and a diabetic retinopathy phenotype2. In our recent study we showed that i) IR coexpression reduced β2AR surface expression and accelerated its internalization, ii) provided evidence for d...

Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly. AD is characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques which are formed from deposits of β-amyloid protein (Ab). These changes increase during menopausal condition in females when the level of oestradiol (E2) is decreased. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of neuropeptide, neurokinin B (NKB) and amyloid beta fragment Aβ (25–35) on E<sub...

Introduction: In the presence of atherogenic plaque, estrogens may be potentially harmful. Among the key vessel wall components in the later stages of atherogenic process are endothelial cells (ECs). During the stages of plaque instability/rupture, metalloproteinases (MMP2 and MMP9), their inhibitors (TIMP2 and TIMP1), RANK, RANKL, OPG, MCP1, lysyl oxidase (LOX), PDGF, and ADAMTS4 play critical role. We aimed to investigate i) the effect of oestrogens on the expression of the ...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy is associated with an adverse metabolic profile including obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidaemia. Hyperandrogenism is the hallmark of PCOS and androgen production is increased in the presence of increased adiposity. While a clear link between obesity and the severity of PCOS exists, the relationship between hyperandrogenism and adipose tissue is less clear. Interestingly, women with PCOS and raised androgen le...

Obesity and its consequent metabolic disorders are severe health problems. The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway is an important hypothalamic integrator of the actions of nutrients and hormones on food intake (FI). Nutrient availability also affects the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the hypothalamus and regulates neuronal activity. In the present study, we hypothesise that modulation of mTORC1 activity mediates ROS effects on FI. To thi...