Abstract
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is the most potent stimulator of adrenal cortex, acting through the Melanocortin-2 receptor (MC2R). ACTH induces secretion of steroid hormones, critical for the normal stress response and plays also an important role on cell proliferation and differentiation. MC2R is a classical G-Protein coupled receptor (GPCR), thus activating Protein Kinase A (PKA). However, many studies suggested a cross-talk between different signalling pathways and a more complex intracellular network. In fact, in adrenocortical Y1 tumour cell line, ACTH may activate Extracellular Regulated Kinases 1/2 (ERK 1/2), which belong to the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) family. In addition, this pathway was implicated in in vivo proliferation and steroidogenesis as shown by our group. In order to further explore and clarify ACTH signalling mechanisms, we made the present work to establish a model of primary cultures of rat adrenal cells.
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