cAMP signalling in the normal and tumorigenic pituitary gland.
cAMP signalling plays a key role in the normal physiology of the pituitary gland, regulating cellular growth and proliferation, hormone production and release. Deregulation of the cAMP signalling pathway has been reported to be a common occurrence in pituitary tumorigenesis. Several mechanisms have been implicated including somatic mutations, gene-gene interactions and gene-environmental interactions. Somatic mutations in G-proteins and protein kinases directly alter cAMP signalling, while malfunctioning of other signalling pathways such as the Raf/MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Wnt pathways which normally interact with the cAMP pathway may mediate indirect effects on cAMP and varying downstream effectors. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor signalling pathway has been implicated in pituitary tumorigenesis and we review its role in general and specifically in relation to cAMP de-regulation.
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Level 0, Block A, Mater Dei Hospital, Msida MSD2080, Malta. Electronic address: robert.formosa@um.edu.mt.
R
R
Formosa
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Level 0, Block A, Mater Dei Hospital, Msida MSD2080, Malta. Electronic address: josanne.vassallo@um.edu.mt.
J
J
Vassallo
D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D015290:Second Messenger Systems; D015398:Signal Transduction
D000242:Cyclic AMP
Adenoma; Pituitary hormones; Secondary signalling; Tumorigenesis; cAMP