Molecular and Clinical Advances in Pituitary Disorders

Section 1: Pituitary gene regulation: Pro-opiomelanocortin gene expression; Regulation of gonadotropin sub-unit gene expression; The thyrotropin subunit genes and their regulation by thyroid hormone; Hormonally regulated expression of human growth hormone and related genes; Pituitary specific expression of the prolactin gene; Thyroid hormone receptors: novel interactions are mediated by a potential dimerization motif; Section 2: Autocrine-paracrine-endocrine relationships and pituitary function: The neuroendocrine and immune systems: partners in host defense; Immune regulation of anterior pituitary function; Identification and purification of a novel angiogenic factor secreted by a pituitary folliculo-stellate cells; Insulin-like growth factor receptors and binding proteins in the pituitary gland; The mechanism of action of inhibin; Characterization of the protein kinase subspecies in the hypothalamo-pituitary axis; Tumour necrosis factor and the pituitary-thyroid axis; Regulation of growth hormone (GH) receptor turnover by GH pulsation; Autoregulation of the growth hormone axis; Pituitary factors controlling mammary development; ICF-I action in the hypothalamus; Section 3: Pathogenesis of pituitary adenomas: What's the role of the hypothalamus in pituitary adenoma formation? Histochemical analysis of pituitary adenomas; Transgenic growth hormone releasing hormone (GRH) production: a model for GRH hypersecretion; Clonal origin of human pituitary tumors and evidence for transforming activity; Section 4: Clinical advances in diagnosis and treatment of pituitary disorders: Role of surgical intervention for prolactinomas; Ultrasensitive growth hormone assays in evaluation of GH disorders; Quantitation of the extensive increase in receptor reactive growth hormone in the sera of pregnant women; Somatostatin receptor imaging in the diagnosis of pituitary and parasellar tumor.