The presence of vertebrate-like steroids, steroidogenic enzymes and steroid receptors has been reported exclusively in cephalopods gonads. The role played by these steroids has been also recently investigated. We here give evidence of steroidogenic activity in the brain of cephalopods. The activity of two key steroidogenic enzymes: 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) and 17beta-HSD is pres...

Wnt/β-catenin (βcat) signaling is critical for adrenal homeostasis. To elucidate how Wnt/βcat signaling elicits homeostatic maintenance of the adrenal cortex, we characterized the identity of the adrenocortical Wnt-responsive population. We find that Wnt-responsive cells consist of sonic hedgehog (Shh)-producing adrenocortical progenitors and differentiated, steroidogenic cells of the zona glom...

background: nowadays it is proofed that the uterine artery plays essential role in follicular growth and/or post parturition hemorrhagic. objective: this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of bilateral uterine artery ligation (bual) on follicular fate and the probable histochemical changes of the carbohydrate and lipids in the ovaries of rabbits. materials and methods: 24 mature female ...

BACKGROUND While the endothelium-organ interaction is critical for regulating cellular behaviors during development and disease, the role of blood flow in these processes is only partially understood. The dorsal aorta performs paracrine functions for the timely migration and differentiation of the sympatho-adrenal system. However, it is unclear how the adrenal cortex and medulla achieve and mai...

Although there have been reports of the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into steroid-producing cells, the differentiation of human ES/induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into steroid-producing cells has not been reported. The purpose of our present study was to establish a method for inducing differentiation of human ES/iPS cells into steroid-produ...

In animal experiments, adrenal cortical tissue has been successfully regenerated through xenotransplantation of cloned adrenocortical cells, suggesting that the intraadrenal stem cells required for such tissue formation may be present in the adrenal cortex. Stable expression of Ad4BP/SF-1, a key factor for adrenal and gonadal development and steroidogenesis, has been shown to direct embryonic s...

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is a dynamic system regulating glucocorticoid hormone synthesis in the adrenal glands. Many key factors within the adrenal steroidogenic pathway have been identified and studied, but little is known about how these factors function collectively as a dynamic network of interacting components. To investigate this, we developed a mathematical model of the ad...