Type 1 vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor expression in PC3/AR cells is evidence of prostate epithelial differentiation.

Background: Type 1 vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor (VIP1R) is expressed in many secretory epithelial cells. We investigated VIP1R expression as a marker of prostate secretory epithelial differentiation in normal and malignant prostate tissues and in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells either lacking or expressing a functional androgen receptor.

Methods: VIP1R mRNA in rat prostate was assessed by in situ hybridization.

Expression of rat thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) gene in TRH-producing tissues of transgenic mice requires sequences located in exon 1.

TRH, an amidated tripeptide secreted by certain hypothalamic neurons, is a principal regulator of TSH secretion and thyroid hormone release. TRH is also produced by other neurons in the central nervous system, where it appears to function as a neuromodulator or neurotransmitter, and by certain endocrine cells, where it may act as an autocrine or paracrine factor. The genomic organization of the rat TRH (rTRH) gene is well understood; however, the domains of the rTRH gene that regulate expression are less well characterized.

Combined octreotide and insulin therapy in acromegaly.

Objective: To describe an unusual treatment strategy for certain patients with both acromegaly and insulin-requiring diabetes.

Methods: We present a case history of a man with a pituitary adenoma and diabetes mellitus and chronicle his response to various treatment modalities.

Results: Acromegaly, a disease state with excess growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I, is associated with carbohydrate intolerance.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide stimulates prostate-specific antigen secretion by LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

The secretion of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by prostate cancer provides an important tool in the diagnosis and management of this disorder. While androgens are required for PSA synthesis, the neuroendocrine regulation of PSA secretion is less understood. Human prostate is extensively innervated with vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-containing neurons, while both normal and malignant prostate cells contain VIP receptors.

Androgenic up-regulation of androgen receptor cDNA expression in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells.

The expression of the androgen receptor (AR) gene is regulated by androgens. Although androgens down-regulate AR mRNA in most cell lines and tissues, including the prostate, up-regulation occurs in some tissues. Androgen-mediated reduction in AR mRNA is reproduced in COS1 cells and in the androgen-sensitive human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP when each expresses the AR cDNA.