Familial and iatrogenic cortisol receptor resistance.

Primary cortisol receptor resistance has been reported in 6 patients and 14 asymptomatic family members. We observed an additional 6 patients (2 males and 4 females). The male patients presented with hypertension. The female patients presented with acne, hirsutism and irregular menstruations. Dexamethasone therapy (1-1.5 mg/day) was of considerable clinical benefit. All 6 patients showed insufficient suppression of cortisol after 1 mg dexamethasone. The diurnal rhythm of ACTH and cortisol was intact, albeit at an elevated level. There was a normal increase of ACTH, cortisol, and GH to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, while cortisol production was (slightly) elevated. Adrenal androgen levels were increased in all patients. Glucocorticoid receptors measured in a whole cell dexamethasone binding assay in mononuclear leukocytes showed a lowered affinity in 1, and lowered numbers of receptors in 4 patients. In 1 patient no abnormalities were found. As a "bioassay" for glucocorticoid action dexamethasone suppressibility of mitogen-stimulated incorporation of [3H]thymidine in mononuclear leukocytes was measured. In this last patient dexamethasone suppressibility of [3H]thymidine incorporation was significantly lowered. Twelve months' treatment with 200 mg RU 486 per day in meningioma patients induced a similar biochemical picture as observed in primary cortisol receptor resistance. Partial cortisol receptor resistance might be less rare than previously thought. In the 6 patients presented at least 3 different forms can be recognized. Therapy with dexamethasone was successful in female patients with acne and hirsutism, as the secondary overproduction of adrenal androgens was effectively controlled. Chronic therapy with RU 486 causes a biochemical picture similar to primary cortisol receptor resistance.     

The mechanism of action of cyproheptadine on prolactin release by cultured anterior pituitary cells

The role of a direct effect of serotonin (5-HT) on PRL secretion at the pituitary level is uncertain. The present study investigated the mechanism of action of the serotonin receptor-blocking agent cyproheptadine on PRL release by normal cultured rat anterior pituitary cells. Cyproheptadine (10 nM-10 microM) and its metabolite desmethylcyproheptadine (a compound which has lost its affinity for serotonin receptors) directly inhibited PRL release, while serotonin, investigated over a wide concentration range, did not reverse this inhibition. The cyproheptadine-mediated inhibition of PRL-release could be completely prevented by 50 microM verapamil. Cyproheptadine strongly inhibited TRH-induced PRL release in the absence, but not in the presence of verapamil. Our studies suggest that cyproheptadine inhibits PRL release at the pituitary level by a blockade of calcium influx at the cell membrane, without affecting the movement of Ca2+ between intracellular compartments.     

The met-enkephalin analog FK 33-824 and naloxone do not directly influence cortisol secretion by cultured human adrenocortical cells

Systemic administration of the enkephalin analog FK 33.824 was previously shown to inhibit ACTH secretion in man. In this study, the direct action of this analog on cortisol release was studied. The enkephalin analog (1 uM and 10 uM) did not influence basal or ACTH-stimulated cortisol production by cultured isolated adrenocortical cells prepared from the hyperplastic adrenal glands from three patients with Cushing's disease. Naloxone (10 uM) had also no direct effect on cortisol release. It is concluded that the met-enkephalin analog used in this study and naloxone do affect the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis via a central effect.     

Lack of evidence for autocrine feedback regulation by somatostatin in somatostatin receptor-containing meningiomas

The somatostatin (SS), the SS mRNA, and the SS receptor contents were measured and compared in 25 human meningiomas. The SS tissue content, measured with radioimmunoassay, amounted to 2.89 +/- 0.82 pg/mg tissue (mean +/- SEM). The SS mRNA levels visualized by in situ hybridization using a 32P-labeled synthetic oligonucleotide probe were undetectable in all cases. SS receptors were measured with autoradiography using the octapeptide SS analogue 125I-204-090 as radioligand and were found to be present in high density in all meningiomas. For comparison, three SS-producing tumors, i.e., two human medullary thyroid carcinomas and one neuroendocrine gut tumor, were shown to have a high level of immunoreactive tissue SS, reaching, respectively, 2807, 401, and 22 pg/mg tissue, as well as moderate to high levels of SS mRNA detected with in situ hybridization. It can be concluded that meningioma tissue is not synthesizing significant amounts of SS in situ and that the low amount of tissue SS found in these tumors is likely to be due to SS transported there from a distant source, via blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or axons from nerve fibers terminating in this tissue. The high number of SS receptors found in meningiomas is therefore unlikely to be regulated by an autocrine SS production from the meningioma tissue itself but rather from another, unknown distant SS source.     

The lepidopteran mitochondrial control region: structure and evolution

For several species of lepidoptera, most of the approximately 350-bp mitochondrial control-region sequences were determined. Six of these species are in one genus, Jalmenus; are closely related; and are believed to have undergone recent rapid speciation. Recent speciation was supported by the observation of low interspecific sequence divergence. Thus, no useful phylogeny could be constructed for the genus. Despite a surprising conservation of control-region length, there was little conservation of primary sequences either among the three lepidopteran genera or between lepidoptera and Drosophila. Analysis of secondary structure indicated only one possible feature in common--inferred stem loops with higher-than-random folding energies-- although the positions of the structures in different species were unrelated to regions of primary sequence similarity. We suggest that the conserved, short length of control regions is related to the observed lack of heteroplasmy in lepidopteran mitochondrial genomes. In addition, determination of flanking sequences for one Jalmenus species indicated (i) only weak support for the available model of insect 12S rRNA structure and (ii) that tRNA translocation is a frequent event in the evolution of insect mitochondrial genomes.      

Structural studies of extracellular glucans of Streptococcus mutans by proton magnetic resonance

Proton magnetic resonance spectra at 100 MHz were obtained for water-soluble and water-insoluble glucans from 11 strains of Streptococcus mutans. The percentages of α-D-(1→6) and non-α-D-(1→6)-, namely, α-D-(1→3)-, linkages were calculated from the anomeric-proton resonances in the 4.7-4.8 and 5.0-5.1 p.p.m. range, respectively. The average content of α-D(1→6) linkages in the polymer fractions precipitating from solution during synthesis of the glucans was generally much lower than that of fractions remaining in solution. The frequent appearance of the α-D-(1→3) resonances as doublets in the spectra suggested neighboring-group effects among the possible α-D-(1→3) and α-D-(1→6) linkage-configurations. These effects were confirmed from 100-MHz spectra of products of a dextranase-degraded, water-insoluble glucan, and a 270-MHz spectrum of an undegraded glucan. It was thus possible to assign the doublet resonances to α-D-(1→3), homogeneous, heterogeneous, and branch configurations, although complete differentiation among proportions of each configuration in the glucan chains could not be achieved.     

Internalization-defective mutants of somatostatin receptor subtype 2 exert normal signaling functions in hematopoietic cells

The regulatory peptide somatostatin (SST) acts via a family of G-protein-coupled receptors comprising five subtypes (SSTR1-5). G-protein-coupled receptors activate multiple signaling mechanisms, which variably depend on internalization and intracellular routing of activated receptors. We have recently demonstrated that hematopoietic precursors express SSTR2 and that SST is a chemoattractant for these cells. Herein, we characterize critical regions in SSTR2 involved in endocytosis and describe how ligand-induced internalization impacts on two major signaling functions of SSTR2 in hematopoietic cells, the activation of the Erk pathway and the induction of promigratory responses.