Roberto Civitelli, MD
Washington University School of Medicine

Regulation of Osteogenesis by Cadherins

The central hypothesis of this proposal is that interactions among osteoblasts and between osteoblasts and skeletal stem cells mediated by N-cadherin and cadherin-11 control bone mass development and maintenance via modulation of skeletal stem cell lineage allocation and osteogenic differentiation.

Gloria E. Hoffman, PhD
University of Maryland School of Medicine

cFos Maps Activation of LHRH Neurons

The proposed studies provide new insights into how the brain regulates ovulation and will fill important gaps in our understanding of how these mechanisms compare across rodent and primate species.

Walter L. Miller, MD
University of California, San Francisco

Molecular Biology of Steroidogenic P450 Enzymes

The Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory (StAR) protein facilitates the first step of steroidogenesis. The studies proposed here will elucidate key aspects of the mechanism of StAR activity.

Sham S. Kakar, PhD
University of Louisville School of Medicine

PTTG Role in Ovarian Tumor Tumorigenesis and Metastasis

Pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) is a potent oncogene found in human testis and ovarian tumors. This proposal is focused on determining the effect of cell-specific expression of PTTG on ovarian tumor development and determining its molecular mechanisms in tumorigenesis and progression.

Since being awarded a Bridge Grant from the Society, Dr. Kakar has secured NIH funding for this project. Dr. Kakar expressed his appreciation for the interim funding with the following statement:

“I really appreciate the award of bridge funds from The Endocrine Society, which was greatly helpful to continue my research during the tight period when I was seeking funding from NIH. Bridge funds from The Endocrine Society helped me to pay my postdoctoral fellow and continue my research to generate data as required by the reviewers to improve my score on NIH grant.”