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Dale Buchanan Hales, PhD

Department of Physiology & Biophysics
ë
ë  

 
¢ n one of the first endocrine
experiments ever recorded,
Professor Arnold A. Berthold of
Gottingen did a series of tests
on roosters in 1849 while he
was curator of the local zoo.
 ë  
 
¢Bethold found that a rooster's comb is an
androgen-dependent structure. Following
castration, the comb atrophies, aggressive male
behavior disappears, and interest in the hens is
lost.
¢ mportantly, Berthold also found that these
castration-induced changes could be reversed by
administration of a crude testicular extract (or
prevented by transplantation of the testes).
±
 


±laude Bernard stated that the
endocrine system regulates the
internal milieu of an animal. The
³internal secretions´ were
liberated by one part of the body,
traveled via the bloodstream to
distant targets cells. ±

Bernard's charge was to
demonstrate that medicine, in
order to progress, must be
founded on experimental
physiology.
 |
 
  

The concept that hormones acting on distant target
cells to maintain the stability of the internal milieu
was a major advance in physiological
understanding.
The secretion of the hormone was evoked by a
change in the milieu and the resulting action on
the target cell restored the milieu to normal.
The desired return to the status quo results in the
maintenance of a
 
±    
 


¢ Brown-Sequard further piqued mainstream
scientific interest in the chemical contents of the
testes with his famous auto-experimentation. On
June 1, 1889, before the Sociète de Biologic in
Paris, Brown-Sequard reported that he had
increased his physical strength, mental abilities and
appetite by self-injection with an extract derived
from the testicles of dogs and guinea pigs
¢ Although never substantiated, this claim prompted
researchers around the world to pursue the new field
of organotherapy
 

 


!
¢ Besides "his" law of the heart, Starling discovered
the functional significance of serum proteins.
¢ n 1902 along with Bayliss he demonstrated that
secretin stimulates pancreatic secretion.
¢ n 1924 along with E. B. Vernay he demonstrated
the reabsorption of water by the tubules of the
kidney.
¢ He was the first to use the term a
 
 *"# 

r

¢Famous cardiovascular
physiologist
¢Truly understood ³Starling¶s
Law´
¢Disputed that the main
purpose of the cardiovascular
system was to deliver
hormones.
å  
 
Endocrine ³glands´
synthesize and store
hormones. These glands
have a sensing and
signaling system which
regulate the duration and
magnitude of hormone
release via feedback from
the target cell.
|
 å


¢
ajor communication systems in the body

¢ ntegrate stimuli and responses to changes
in external and internal environment
¢ Both are crucial to coordinated functions of
highly differentiated cells, tissues and
organs
¢ nlike the nervous system, the endocrine
system is anatomically discontinuous.



¢ßa

exerts
point-to-point control through
nerves, similar to sending
messages by conventional
telephone. Nervous control is
electrical in nature and fast.
R  

 
¢ßa  
broadcasts its
hormonal messages to essentially all
cells by secretion into blood and
extracellular fluid. Like a radio
broadcast, it requires a receiver to get
the message - in the case of endocrine
messages, cells must bear a



for the hormone being broadcast in
order to respond.
 ë   
   

ost hormones circulate in blood, coming into contact with essentially

all cells. However, 
a
 
 

  aa       
 a
     aa

     

 

¢
aintenance of the internal environment in the
body (maintaining the optimum biochemical
environment).
¢ ntegration and regulation of growth and
development.
¢ ±ontrol, maintenance and instigation of sexual
reproduction, including gametogenesis, coitus,
fertilization, fetal growth and development and
nourishment of the newborn.
ß
 
±lassic endocrine hormones
travel via bloodstream to
target cells; neurohormones
are released via synapses and
travel via the bloostream;
paracrine hormones act on
adjacent cells and autocrine
hormones are released and
act on the cell that secreted
them. Also, intracrine
hormones act within the cell
that produces them.
 Õ 
 

|   Ú the hormone is distributed in blood and binds to
distant target cells.
÷   Ú the hormone acts locally by diffusing from its
source to target cells in the neighborhood.
   Ú the hormone acts on the same cell that produced
it.
6  


¢ Top down organization of endocrine system.
¢ Hypothalamus produces releasing factors that
stimulate production of anterior pituitary hormone
which act on peripheral endocrine gland to
stimulate release of third hormone
± Specific examples to follow
¢ Posterior pituitary hormones are synthesized in
neuronal cell bodies in the hypothalamus and are
released via synapses in posterior pituitary.
± Oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (ADH)
 ß
  
¢ R
      
   a

  a
 a

  



± Peptides and proteins
± Amino acid derivatives
± Steroids
± Fatty acid derivatives - Eicosanoids
 
   
[ Õange from 3 amino acids to hundreds of
amino acids in size.
[ Often produced as larger molecular weight
precursors that are proteolytically cleaved to
the active form of the hormone.
[ Peptide/protein hormones are water soluble.
[ ±omprise the largest number of hormones±
perhaps in thousands
 
   
¢ Are encoded by a specific gene which is transcribed into
mÕNA and translated into a protein precursor called a
preprohormone
¢ Preprohormones are often post-translationally modified in
the EÕ to contain carbohydrates (glycosylation)
¢ Preprohormones contain signal peptides (hydrophobic
amino acids) which targets them to the golgi where signal
sequence is removed to form prohormone
¢ Prohormone is processed into active hormone and
packaged into secretory vessicles
 
   
¢ Secretory vesicles move to plasma membrane where they
await a signal. Then they are exocytosed and secreted into
blood stream
¢ n some cases the prohormone is secreted and converted in
the extracellular fluid into the active hormoneÚ an example
is angiotensin is secreted by liver and converted into active
form by enzymes secreted by kidney and lung

   
 
 ë   
There are two groups of hormones derived from the
amino acid tyrosine
ßa  a
 and a 

 ß

R 
[ ßa  a
 are basically a "double" tyrosine with
the critical incorporation of 3 or 4 iodine atoms.
[ Thyroid hormone is produced by the thyroid gland and
is lipid soluble
[ Thyroid hormones are produced by modification of a
tyrosine residue contained in thyroglobulin, post-
translationally modified to bind iodine, then proteolytically
cleaved and released as T4 and T3. T3 and T4 then bind to
thyroxin binding globulin for transport in the blood
ß

  
 ±    
[ a 
 are both neurohormones and
neurotransmitters.
[These include epinephrine, and norepinephrine
[ Epinephrine and norepinephrine are produced
by the adrenal medulla both are water soluble
[ Secreted like peptide hormones
å
   
 ë R 
¢ ß  a 
     
a a

¢ ß  a is the precursor to serotonin
and the pineal hormone melatonin
¢ 
 is converted to histamine
 å
  
[ All steroid hormones are derived from
cholesterol and differ only in the ring
structure and side chains attached to it.
[ All steroid hormones are lipid soluble
 ß

  
¢     ; cortisol is the major
representative in most mammals
¢      ; aldosterone being
most prominent
¢   such as testosterone
¢ | , including estradiol and estrone
¢ ÷   (also known a progestins)
such as progesterone
 å
  
¢ Are not packaged, but synthesized and
immediately released
¢ Are all derived from the same parent compoundÚ
±holesterol
¢ Enzymes which produce steroid hormones from
cholesterol are located in mitochondria and
smooth EÕ
¢ Steroids are lipid soluble and thus are freely
permeable to membranes so are not stored in cells
 å
  
¢ Steroid hormones are not water soluble so have to
be carried in the blood complexed to specific
binding globulins.
¢ ±orticosteroid binding globulin carries cortisol
¢ Sex steroid binding globulin carries testosterone
and estradiol
¢ n some cases a steroid is secreted by one cell and
is converted to the active steroid by the target cellÚ
an example is androgen which secreted by the
gonad and converted into estrogen in the brain
å
   


  
 å
  | 




  
  


Side-chain cleavage enzyme; P450S±± ± P11A1

desmolase
3 beta-hydroxysteroid 3 beta-HSD 3 beta-HSD
dehydrogenase
17 alpha-hydroxylase/17,20 lyase P450±17 ± P17

21-hydroxylase P450±21 ± P21A2

11 beta-hydroxylase P450±11 ± P11B1

Aldosterone synthase P450±11AS ± P11B2

Aromatase P450aro ± P19

 å
  
 
All steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol.
A series of enzymatic steps in the mitochondria
and EÕ of steroidogenic tissues convert
cholesterol into all of the other steroid hormones
and intermediates.
The rate-limiting step in this process is the
transport of free cholesterol from the cytoplasm
into mitochondria This step is carried out by the
Steroidogenic Acute Õegulatory Protein (StAÕ)
 å
  
 
¢The cholesterol precursor comes from cholesterol
synthesized within the cell from acetate, from
cholesterol ester stores in intracellular lipid
droplets or from uptake of cholesterol-containing
low density lipoproteins.
¢Lipoproteins taken up from plasma are most
important when steroidogenic cells are chronically
stimulated.
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[ 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 is also derived
from cholesterol and is lipid soluble
[ Not really a ³vitamin´ as it can be
synthesized de novo
[ Acts as a true hormone
 #ëV. 00
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¢  a  a
 
    aa
 Stores of
arachadonic acid are present in membrane lipids
and released through the action of various lipases.
The specific eicosanoids synthesized by a cell are
dictated by the battery of processing enzymes
expressed in that cell.
¢ These hormones are rapidly inactivated by being
metabolized, and are typically active for only a
few seconds.
 #ëV. 00
V

¢ |    are a large group of molecules
derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids.
¢ The principal groups of hormones of this
class are prostaglandins, prostacyclins,
leukotrienes and thromboxanes.
 Õ    

[ Sensing and signalingÚ a biological need is sensed,
the endocrine system sends out a signal to a target
cell whose action addresses the biological need.
Key features of this stimulus response system areÚ
 receipt of stimulus
 synthesis and secretion of hormone
 delivery of hormone to target cell
 evoking target cell response
 degradation of hormone
 ±
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¢Almost inevitably, disease results when hormone
concentrations are either too high or too low, and
precise control over circulating concentrations of
hormones is therefore crucial.
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Õ    Synthesis and secretion of

hormones are the most highly regulated aspect of
endocrine control. Such control is mediated by
positive and negative feedback circuits, as described
below in more detail.
±
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Õ  
  An example of this effect is
blood flow to a target organ or group of target
cells - high blood flow delivers more hormone
than low blood flow.
±
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Õ      
  Hormones,
like all biomolecules, have characteristic rates of
decay, and are metabolized and excreted from the
body through several routes.

Shutting off secretion of a hormone that has a very

short half-life causes circulating hormone
concentration to plummet, but if a hormone's
biological half-life is long, effective concentrations
persist for some time after secretion ceases.
 #2V ±
 1 "

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'     

  
   a
 in the
hypothalamic-pituitary axis.
An important example of a
negative feedback loop is seen
in control of thyroid hormone
secretion
þ 
 
  
¢ Neural input to hypothalamus stimulates
synthesis and secretion of releasing factors
which stimulate pituitary hormone
production and release
 ±   
¢ Endogenous neuronal rhythmicity
¢ Diurnal rhythms, circadian rhythms (growth
hormone and cortisol), Sleep-wake cycle;
seasonal rhythm
 |
 
 
¢ Õesponse-stimulus coupling enables the
endocrine system to remain responsive to
physiological demands
¢ Secretory episodes occur with different
periodicity
¢ Pulses can be as frequent as every 5-10
minutes
|
   
¢ The most prominent episodes of release occur
with a frequency of about one hour²referred to as

 

¢ An episode of release longer than an hour, but less
than 24 hours, the rhythm is referred to as

 
¢ f the periodicity is approximately 24 hours, the
rhythm is referred to as 
 
± usually referred to as  
 because the increase in
secretory activity happens at a defined period of the
day.
±
    
±
 ±
 
  
  
¢ Demonstrated by GnÕH infusion
¢ f given once hourly, gonadotropin secretion and
gonadal function are maintained normally
¢ A slower frequency won¶t maintain gonad
function
¢ Faster, or continuous infusion inhibits
gonadotropin secretion and blocks gonadal steroid
production
  
¢ Long-acting GnÕH analogs (such as
leuproline) have been applied to the
treatment of precocious puberty, to
manipulate reproductive cycles (used in
VF), for the treatment of endometriosis,
P±OS, uterine leiomyoma etc
 '
 
¢ Negative feedback is most commonÚ for example,
LH from pituitary stimulates the testis to produce
testosterone which in turn feeds back and inhibits
LH secretion
¢ Positive feedback is less commonÚ examples
include LH stimulation of estrogen which
stimulates LH surge at ovulation
 

 å    
¢ Glucose and insulinÚ as glucose increases it
stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin
'