120.621.01 MOLECULAR ENDOCRINOLOGY

Presents molecular biology as applied to endocrinology. Topics include the molecular biology and endocrinology of sexual differentiation, hypothalamic and pituitary regulation, ovarian follicular development, steroidogenesis, breast and prostate cancer, androgen, estrogen and thyroid hormone action, diabetes and insulin action, endocrine effects on immunity, G-protein coupled receptors and hormonal regulation of gene expression. Examines steroid and peptide hormone action via paracrine, autocrine, and endocrine mechanisms; transmembrane and intracellular signal transduction; and regulation of nuclear gene transcription.

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to do the following: Explain the molecular mechanisms by which steroid hormones activate nuclear receptors to provoke their biological effects; Explain the molecular mechanisms by which peptide hormones activate cell surface receptors to provoke their biological effects; Describe how androgens and estrogens are involved in cancers, as in the prostate and breast respectively; Explain how the actions of peptide hormones (e.g. insulin) are involved in diseases (e.g. diabetes); Construct pathways of the endocrine systems that link control and production of hormones in specific tissues with the actions of these hormones in their respective target organs.