Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
 630,302 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The most common ectopic production of a pituitary hormone is the one of ACTH leading to Cushing's syndrome. Ectopic ACTH-hypersecretion is the cause of Cushing's syndrome in 10-15% of all cases. The ACTH-secreting tumours are often oat-cell carcinomas of the lung, less frequently pancreatic cancers, hypernephromas, or C-cell carcinomas of the thyroid. Some of these tumours may be benign or semi-benign as the rare carcinoid tumours and cause great problems in the differential diagnosis of ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism. Out of 173 of our patients with Cushing's syndrome observed in the last 12 years 21 were caused by ectopic ACTH-production. Of these 21 patients 13 have a small cell carcinoma of the lung. The ectopic ACTH-syndrome often has typical clinical features caused by the levels of ACTH and cortisol leading to hypocalcemic alkalosis with muscle weakness and wasting, carbohydrate intolerance, and hypertension with oedema. The survival time in many of these patients is not long enough to allow them to develop typical signs of Cushing's syndrome though they are often highly pigmented. These patients are easily diagnosed. However, patients with small tumours which do not cause very elevated ACTH-levels and who have the more typical clinical signs of full-blown Cushing's syndrome are difficult to recognize. For the differential diagnosis of ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation test and dexamethasone suppression test with high doses are helpful. In special cases the venous sampling procedure for ACTH-measurements is necessary, also CT or NMR is helpful. Ectopic CRH-production is a rare cause of ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome. Patients with ectopic CRH-production and consecutive ACTH-hypersecretion from the pituitary have not been studied extensively. There are especially no well documented results of the use of the CRH-stimulation test in vivo in this group of patients with Cushing's syndrome. On the other hand, in the documented cases, not only CRH-, but also ACTH-production was found in the tumours. So far, this rare cause of ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome has to be excluded or confirmed by the measurement of endogenous CRH-levels. But until now we have not been able to detect one single case of ectopic CRH-production using a sensitive homologous CRH-radioimmunoassay over a period of more than 8 years in which we have seen nearly 120 newly diagnosed patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome. Only in the plasma and tumour tissue of two patients of other groups have we found high CRH-levels.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1992 Oct
PMID:Ectopic production of ACTH and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). 132 73

Steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the leading cause of impaired cortisol synthesis in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), with the nonclassic form (NC) comprising approximately 1% of the Caucasian population. The structure of the CYP21 gene was studied in 13 unrelated NC-CAH patients, three affected siblings, and 55 blood donors using polymerase chain reaction. In addition to the Leu-281 and Leu-30 mutations previously associated with NC-CAH, the finding of a Pro-453 to Ser mutation in exon-10 of CYP21 in the NC-CAH patients is reported. Ser-453 was found in 46.2% of unrelated NC-CAH patients, but only 7.7% and 3.6% of salt-wasting CAH patients and blood donors, respectively. In contrast to the Leu-281 and Leu-30 mutations, Ser-453 has not been previously detected in the CYP21 pseudogene (CYP21P) and, therefore, has not likely arisen by gene conversion.
Mol Endocrinol 1992 Aug
PMID:Pro-453 to Ser mutation in CYP21 is associated with nonclassic steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. 140 99

Steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the leading cause of impaired cortisol synthesis in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). We have studied the structure of the CYP21B gene in 30 unrelated CAH patients using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to differentiate the active CYP21B gene from its highly related CYP21A pseudogene. The PCR approach obviates the need to distinguish the CYP21A and CYP21B genes by restriction endonuclease digestion and electrophoresis before analysis with labeled probes. Furthermore, direct nucleotide sequence analysis of CYP21B genes is demonstrated on the PCR-amplified DNA. Gene deletion of CYP21B, gene conversion of the entire CYP21B gene to CYP21A, frame shift mutations in exon 3, an intron 2 mutation that causes abnormal RNA splicing, and a mutation leading to a stop codon in exon 8 appear to be the major abnormalities of the CYP21B gene in our patients. These mutations appear to account for 21-hydroxylase deficiency in 22 of 26 of our salt-wasting CAH patients.
Mol Endocrinol 1990 Jan
PMID:Direct analysis of CYP21B genes in 21-hydroxylase deficiency using polymerase chain reaction amplification. 232 62

Twelve to sixteen weeks following treatment of CF-1 mice with a vitamin A-deficient diet, characteristic signs of retinoid deficiency including body wasting, poor hair coat, altered gait, decreased mobility, and xerophthalmia were observed. Histological examination of tissue sections from these mice revealed dramatic changes in the urinary tract epithelium. The normal transitional epithelium was replaced by a stratified squamous epithelium that resembled hyperproliferative epidermis. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, a number of new proteins were found to be synthesized in vitamin A-deficient bladder when compared to tissue from control bladders. Using antikeratin antibodies in immunoblot experiments, we found that at least some of the newly synthesized proteins were keratins. These proteins, which comprise the intermediate filaments of the cytoskeleton, are known to be specific markers of epithelial differentiation. Of particular interest was the appearance of a Mr 67,000 basic and Mr 61,000 acidic keratin pair, characteristic of terminally differentiating murine epidermal cells. Unexpectedly, several other keratins, previously associated only with hyperproliferative epidermis, were also expressed in the tissue. These results demonstrate that vitamin A deficiency in the mouse leads to the appearance of a squamous metaplasia in the urinary tract epithelium that is characterized by the expression of distinct epidermal keratins.
Exp Mol Pathol 1988 Aug
PMID:Effect of retinoid deficiency on keratin expression in mouse bladder. 245 26

Two highly efficient methods of CNBr-peptide mapping of polypeptides divided by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis are described. The first is elaborated on the basis of peptide mapping of collagen proposed by G. Barsh et al. The following three modifications diminish wasting the material essential for the method. 1. CNBr treatment takes place in the absence of CNBr solution outside the gel, excluding the peptides elution from the gel fragments in the process of mapping. 2. After CNBr treatment the solution of CNBr is substituted by the samples buffer before electrophoresis by means of drying and subsequent addition of minimal volumes of the buffer. The latter procedures substitute the gel washing out by the buffer solution. 3. The step of washing the gel fragments by the 70% strong solution of formic acid before CNBr treatment is excluded. The second method of CNBr-peptide mapping is notable for extracting peptides from the gel fragments in the process of CNBr-treatment and permits obtaining of the high quality peptide electrophoregrams.
Mol Gen Mikrobiol Virusol 1987 Mar
PMID:[Optimization of the method of cyanogen bromide mapping of polypeptides separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis]. 357 20

Marked differences in cardiac associated morbidity and mortality have been reported between patients with and without malnutrition. Tumor-associated cachexia may impair heart function, which further aggravate host wasting and thereby create a vicious circle. The aim of this study was to evaluate to what extent a malignant tumor may influence heart function under well-defined experimental conditions. The perfused working rat heart was used as a model. Study groups of freely-fed sarcoma-bearing rats, starved and protein-calorie malnourished (PCM) non-tumor rats were compared to freely-fed control animals. All groups of malnourished animals (tumor-bearing, starved and PCM) lost significant amounts of body and heart mass compared to freely-fed controls. Loss of heart contractile mass in tumor-bearing rats and malnourished animals did not lead to impaired heart function in any respect. The rate of oxygen uptake was significantly higher under all experimental conditions in perfused hearts from tumor-bearing rats compared with hearts from starved, PCM and freely-fed control rats. Oxygen uptake per left ventricular work was significantly higher in tumor-bearing rats but significantly lower in starved and PCM rats compared with control animals. Norepinephrine at various concentrations (10(-9)-10(-5) mol/l) in the perfusate stimulated the contractility and the left ventricular peak pressure significantly more in hearts from malnourished animals compared with that of freely-fed controls. The results show that adaptive functional changes can be recorded in the isolated perfused rat heart from sarcoma-bearing rats and after a period of comparatively acute undernutrition in non-tumor rats. A malignant tumor or the associated malnutrition does not induce impaired pumping performance despite a reduction in contractile heart mass. Increased oxygen consumption in hearts from tumor-bearing animals may contribute to elevated energy expenditure in a cancer-bearing host.
J Mol Cell Cardiol 1986 Nov
PMID:Effects of tumor-load and malnutrition on myocardial function in the isolated working rat heart. 379 77

The enzyme 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD) catalyses an essential step in the biosynthesis of all classes of steroid hormones. Classical 3 beta-HSD deficiency is responsible for CAHII, a severe form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) that impairs steroidogenesis in both the adrenals and gonads. Newborns affected by 3 beta-HSD deficiency exhibit signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency of varying degrees associated with pseudohermaphroditism in males, whereas females exhibit normal sexual differentiation or mild virilization. Elevated ratios of 5-ene-to 4-ene-steroids appear as the best biological parameter for the diagnosis of 3 beta-HSD deficiency. The nonclassical form has been suggested to be related to an allelic variant of the classical form of 3 beta-HSD as described for steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. To elucidate the molecular basis of the classical form of 3 beta-HSD deficiency, we have analysed the structure of the highly homologous type I and II 3 beta-HSD genes in 12 male pseudohermaphrodite 3 beta-HSD deficient patients as well as in four female patients. The 14 different point mutations characterized were all detected in the type II 3 beta-HSD gene, which is the gene predominantly expressed in the adrenals and gonads, while no mutation was detected in the type I 3 beta-HSD gene predominantly expressed in the placenta and peripheral tissues. The finding of a normal type I 3 beta-HSD gene provides the explanation for the intact peripheral intracrine steroidogenesis in these patients and increased androgen manifestations at puberty. The influence of the detected mutations on enzymatic activity was assessed by in vitro expression analysis of mutant enzymes generated by site-directed mutagenesis in COS-1 cells. The mutant type II 3 beta-HSD enzymes carrying mutations detected in patients affected by the salt-losing form exhibit no detectable activity in intact transfected cells, whereas those with mutations found in nonsalt-loser index cases have some residual activity ranging from approximately 1-10% compared to the wild-type enzyme. Although in general, our findings provide a molecular explanation for the enzymatic heterogeneity ranging from the severe salt-losing form to the clinically inapparent salt-wasting form of the disease, we have observed that the mutant L108W or P186L enzymes found in a compound heterozygote male presenting the salt-wasting form of the disease, has some residual activity (approximately 1%) similar to that observed for the mutant N100S enzyme detected in a homozygous male patient suffering from a nonsalt-losing form of this disorder.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1995 Jun
PMID:Molecular basis of human 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency. 762 45

Pseudohypoaldosteronism is a syndrome characterized by salt wasting and a failure to thrive due to the resistance towards the action of aldosterone. Aldosterone levels and plasma renin activity are extremely elevated and aldosterone binding sites in peripheral mononuclear leukocytes have regularly shown to be reduced or absent. Sporadic as well as familial cases have been identified and an autosomal dominant as well as an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance has been described. A defect in the aldosterone receptor has been postulated, however, molecular genetic analysis in selected patients has not revealed a mutation in the sequence of the coding region of the cDNA of the mineralocorticoid receptor gene. In the present study we have used a fluorescence-labeled antibody to detect possible receptor expression in monocytes from patients with various clinical forms of pseudohypoaldosteronism. Patients with the sporadic as well as with the autosomal dominant form were clearly immunopositive despite being negative in terms of aldosterone receptor binding. In contrast in two patients with the autosomal recessive form there was no detectable receptor protein, consistent with the results obtained in the aldosterone binding studies. These results suggest that the pathogenesis of pseudohypoaldosteronism is heterogeneous not only regarding the mode of inheritance but also in terms of receptor binding. Thus, in a subgroup of patients the inability of the receptor to bind ligand may be due to a defect involving other, probably cellular factors rather than a deficiency or a defect in the mineralocorticoid receptor system itself.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1994 Dec
PMID:Immunofluorescence of mineralocorticoid receptors in peripheral lymphocytes: presence of receptor-like activity in patients with the autosomal dominant form of pseudohypoaldosteronism, and its absence in the recessive form. 782 88

Binding by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) to the Ah receptor leads to transcriptional activation of several genes and a toxicity syndrome that includes tumor promotion, wasting, hormonal and immune system dysfunction, and death. Recent findings indicate that TCDD may also affect cardiac function. Here, we used the chick embryo, a TCDD-sensitive species, to further characterize the effects of TCDD on ventricular muscle contraction and on cardiac myocyte [Ca2+]i assessed with fura 2. The results show that TCDD causes an evolving sequence of contractile defects, independent of changes in diet, first impairing cAMP-modulated contraction (after 48 hr) and later (by seven days) decreasing responses to [Ca2+]o. Phenobarbital, even at high doses, failed to affect the inotropic response to isoproterenol, supporting the specificity of the ventricular contractile effects of TCDD. TCDD treatment also depressed inotropic responses to theophylline and forskolin, indicating that it has a post-beta-adrenergic receptor effect on cAMP action. In contrast to its depression of responses to beta-adrenergic stimuli and to [Ca2+]o, TCDD did not affect initial tensions of ventricular muscle stimulated at 1 Hz or the force-frequency response up to 1 Hz, indicating that TCDD-treated ventricles can respond normally at slow rates of stimulation. TCDD treatment depressed lusitropic (relaxation) responses to isoproterenol and to increasing [Ca2+]o indicating that it impairs the ability of the sarcoplasmic reticulum to sequester Ca2+. Fura 2-based measurements showed that [Ca2+]i was nearly doubled after TCDD treatment. The increase in [Ca2+]i is consistent with the decrease in the contractile response to [Ca2+]o, amelioration of the response to isoproterenol by subphysiologic concentrations of [Ca2+]o, and intermittent lack of response to electrical stimulation in high K+ observed in ventricles from TCDD-treated embryos. TCDD treatment also depressed the initial increase in [Ca2+]i by isoproterenol, consistent with the decreased contractile response to isoproterenol. The findings show that TCDD causes well defined, progressive impairment of avian ventricular responses to inotropic stimuli, providing new evidence that the heart is a target of TCDD action and that TCDD disturbs intracellular calcium processing.
Mol Pharmacol 1993 Dec
PMID:2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin increases cardiac myocyte intracellular calcium and progressively impairs ventricular contractile responses to isoproterenol and to calcium in chick embryo hearts. 826 50

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is the most frequent cause of adrenal insufficiency and ambiguous genitalia in newborn children. In contrast to congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase and 11 beta-hydroxylase deficiencies, which impair steroid formation in the adrenal cortex, exclusively, classical 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD) deficiency affects steroid biosynthesis in the gonads as well as in the adrenals. The structures of the highly homologous type I and II 3 beta-HSD genes have been analyzed in three male pseudohermaphrodite 3 beta-HSD deficient patients from unrelated families in order to elucidate the molecular basis of classical 3 beta-HSD deficiency from patients exhibiting various degrees of severity of salt losing. The nucleotide sequence of DNA fragments generated by selective polymerase chain reaction amplification that span the four exons, the exon-intron boundaries, as well as the 5'-flanking region of each of the two 3 beta-HSD genes have been determined in the three male patients. The five point mutations characterized were all detected in the type II 3 beta-HSD gene, which is the gene predominantly expressed in the adrenals and gonads, while no mutation was detected in the type I 3 beta-HSD gene, predominantly expressed in the placenta and peripheral tissues. The two male patients suffering from severe salt-losing 3 beta-HSD deficiency are compound heterozygotes, one bearing the frame-shift mutation 186/insC/187 and the missense mutation Y253N, while the other bears the nonsense mutation W171X and the missense mutation E142K. The influence of the detected missense mutations on enzymatic activity was assessed by in vitro expression analysis of mutant recombinant enzymes generated by site-directed mutagenesis in heterologous mammalian cells. Recombinant mutant type II 3 beta-HSD enzymes carrying Y253N or E142K substitutions exhibit no detectable activity. On the other hand, the nonsalt-losing patient is homozygous for the missense mutation A245P. This mutation decreases 3 beta-HSD activity by approximately 90%. The present findings, describing the first missense mutations in the human type II 3 beta-HSD gene, provide unique information on the structure-activity relationships of the 3 beta-HSD superfamily. Moreover, the present findings provide a molecular explanation for the enzymatic heterogeneity responsible for the severe salt-losing form to the clinically inapparent salt-wasting form of classical 3 beta-HSD deficiency.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Mol Endocrinol 1993 May
PMID:Molecular basis of congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency. 831 54


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>