Hormone Involvement in Tissue Development, Physiology and Oncogenesis: A Preface to the Special Issue
- Authors: Luparello C
- Publication year: 2020
- Type: Articolo in rivista
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/432384
Abstract
Hormones, i.e., the products of specialized endocrine cells which spread throughout the body via the bloodstream, control the normal development and growth of organisms at the embryo-fetal stage and, in adult life, regulate, integrate, and coordinate a range of different physiological processes which concern virtually all body tissues. They exert their biological effects by interacting with either surface or intracellular receptors, thereby activating signalization pathways [1]. For example, steroid hormones, such as those released by the adrenal glands, testes and ovaries, once freely crossed through the plasmalemma, bind to receptors that act as ligand-dependent transcriptional regulators and influence the expression of a plethora of target genes responsible for diversified biological responses, including sexual differentiation, osmoregulation, metabolism and developmental roles in various fetal systems among others [2,3].