Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P10721 (c-kit)
 6,575 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Inactivating mutations of the FSH receptor have been described in rare cases of premature ovarian failure. Only one mutation was associated with a complete phenotype, including delayed puberty, primary amenorrhea, and small ovaries. We describe here a new patient presenting a similar complete phenotype of premature ovarian failure, with high plasma FSH levels associated with very low estrogen and inhibin B levels. No biological response to high doses of recombinant FSH was detected. A novel homozygous Pro(519)Thr mutation was found in this patient. This mutation is located in the second extracellular loop of the FSH receptor, within a motif highly conserved in gonadotropin and TSH receptors. The mutation totally impairs adenylate cyclase stimulation in vitro. FSH binding experiments and confocal microscopy showed that this mutation alters the cell surface targeting of the mutated receptor, which remains trapped intracellularly. Histological studies of the ovaries of the patient showed an increase in the density of small follicles compared with age-matched normal women. A complete block in follicular maturation after the primary stage was also observed. Immunocytochemical studies allowed detection of the expression of c-Kit and proliferation cellular nuclear antigen, whereas no apoptosis was shown by the 3'-end-labeling method. This observation supports the concept that in humans FSH seems mandatory for the initiation of follicular growth only after the primary stage. In our patient complete FSH resistance yields infertility, which is remarkably associated with the persistence of a high number of small follicles.
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PMID:Delayed puberty and primary amenorrhea associated with a novel mutation of the human follicle-stimulating hormone receptor: clinical, histological, and molecular studies. 1291 23

Side population (SP) cells are characterized by their ability to efflux the vital dye Hoechst 33342 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) due to expression of the ATP binding cassette (ABC)-dependent transporter ABCG2, and are highly enriched for stem/progenitor cell activity. In this study we identified SP cells in murine thyroid, which are composed of two populations of cells: CD45(-)/c-kit(-)/Sca1(+) and CD45(-)/c-kit(-)/Sca1(-) cells. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that SP cells highly express ABCG2 and the stem cell marker genes encoding nucleostemin and Oct4, whereas the expression of genes encoding the thyroid differentiation markers, thyroid peroxidase, thyroglobulin (TG), and TSH receptor, and two transcription factors, thyroid transcription factor 1 (TITF1) and paired PAX8, critical for thyroid specific gene expression, are low in SP cells as compared with the main population cells. In situ hybridization and double immunofluorescence demonstrated that cells expressing Abcg2 gene reside in the interfollicular space of the thyroid gland. Approximately half and a small percentage of the ABCG2-positive cells were also positive for vimentin and calcitonin, respectively. After 9 wk under three-dimensional thyroid primary culture conditions, main population cells formed an epithelial arrangement and follicle-like structures that are immunoreactive for TITF1 and TG. In contrast, SP cells demonstrated very few morphological changes without any epithelial or follicle-like structure and negative immunostaining for TITF1 and TG. These results demonstrate that thyroid possesses SP cells that may represent stem/progenitor cells.
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PMID:Side population cells in the mouse thyroid exhibit stem/progenitor cell-like characteristics. 1758 61