The Nongenomic Effects of Progesterone in Repressing iNOS Activation through P38MAPK Pathways in Gonococci-Infected Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes and the Clinical Significance

Progesterone has nongenomic effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS),which is mediated by mitogen activated protein kinase(MAPK)pathways.This effect is supposed to have some potential association with asymptomatic gonococcal infections in women by immunological depression.In this study,polymorphonuclear leukocytes(PMNs)challenged by gonococci were used to study the nongenomic effects of progesterone.The activation of iNOS was assessed by measuring [3H] L-arginine converses to [3H] L-citrulline,and t...

Estrogen receptors in gastric cancer:Advances and perspectives

Worldwide, gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies with high mortality. Various aspects of thedevelopment and progression of gastric cancer continue to be extensively investigated in order to further our understanding and provide more effective means for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. Estrogen receptors(ERs) are steroid hormone receptors that regulate cellular activities in many physiological and pathological processes in different tissues. There are two distinct forms of ERs, namely ERα and ERβ, with several alternative-splicing isoforms for each. They show distinct tissue distribution patterns and exert different biological functions. Dysregulation of ERs has been found to be associated closely with many diseases, including cancer. A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the role of ERs in gastric cancer, the possible mechanisms underlying these roles, and the clinical relevance of deregulated ERs in gastric cancer patients. To date, inconsistent associations of different ERs with gastric cancer have been reported. These inconsistencies may be caused by variations in in vitro cell models and clinical samples, including assay conditions and protocols with regard to different forms of ERs. Given the potential of the deregulated ERs as diagnostic/prognostic markers or therapeutic targets for gastric cancer, it will be important to identify/confirm the association of each ER isoform with gastric cancer, to determine the specific roles and interactions that these individual ER isoforms play under specific conditions in the development and/or progression of gastric cancer, and to elucidate precisely these mechanisms. In this review, we summarize the achievements from early ER studies in gastric cancer to the most up-to-date discoveries, with an effort to provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of ERs roles in gastric cancer and its possible mechanisms. Furthermore, we propose directions for future investigations.

Signal transduction pathway of glucocorticoid's rapid action in PC12 cells

Traditionally, steroid hormone action has been described as the modulation of nuclear transcription, thus triggering genomic events that are responsible for physiological effects. Despite early observation of rapid steroid effects that were incompatible with this theory, nonge-nomic steroid action has been widely recognized only recently. More and more evidence for these rapid effects has been reported in recent years, but the signal transduction pathways