An Sp1 Modulated Regulatory Region Unique to Higher Primates Regulates Human Androgen Receptor Promoter Activity in Prostate Cancer Cells

Funding: This work was supported by the Chief Scientist’s Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government (http://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/): CWH (CZB-4-477) and IH (ETM/382).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Negative regulation of the androgen receptor gene through a primate specific androgen response element present in the 5' UTR

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. Acknowledgements This work was supported by funding from the Chief Scientist Office, Government of Scotland (Grant Nos CZB/4/477 and ETM/258). DNL was supported by the Association for International Cancer Research (Grant No. 03–127)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Functional effects of polymorphisms on glucocorticoid receptor modulation of human anxiogenic substance-P gene promoter activity in primary amygdala neurones

This work was funded by The BBSRC (BB/D004659/1) the Wellcome Trust (080980/Z/06/Z) and the Medical Research Council (G0701003). Colin Hay was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Scotland. Scott Davidson was funded by a BBSRC strategic studentship (BBS/S/2005/12001). Philip Cowie was funded by the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULCA).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Tissue control of androgen action : The ups and downs of androgen receptor expression

Work in the McEwan Laboratory is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of Scottish Government: Grants ETM-258 and ETM-382. BE is supported by an Erasmus scholarship.Peer reviewedPostprin

Kissing in Marital and Cohabiting Relationships: Effects on Blood Lipids, Stress, and Relationship Satisfaction

Affection exchange theory and previous research suggest that affectionate behavior has stress-ameliorating effects. On this basis, we hypothesized that increasing affectionate behavior would effect improvements in physical and psychological conditions known to be exacerbated by stress. This study tested this proposition by examining the effects of increased romantic kissing on blood lipids, perceived stress, depression, and relationship satisfaction. Fifty-two healthy adults who were in marital or cohabiting romantic relationships provided self-report data for psychological outcomes and blood samples for hematological tests, and were then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups for a 6-week trial. Those in the experimental group were instructed to increase the frequency of romantic kissing in their relationships; those in the control group received no such instructions. After 6 weeks, psychological and hematological tests were repeated. Relative to the control group, the experimental group experienced improvements in perceived stress, relationship satisfaction, and total serum cholesterol

Elizabeth Polk Benson (13 May 1924-19 March 2018

An appreciation of the life and work of Pre-Columbian art historian Elizabeth Polk Benson.is presented from multiple points of view

Non Invasive Foetal Monitoring with a Combined ECG - PCG System

Although modern ultrasound provides remarkable images and biophysical measures, the technology is expensive and the observations are only available over a short time. Longer term monitoring is achieved in a clinical setting using ultrasonic Doppler cardiotocography (CTG) but this has a number of limitations. Some pathologies and some anomalies of cardiac functioning are not detectable with CTG. Moreover, although frequent and/or long-term foetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring is recommended, mainly in high risk pregnancies, there is a lack of established evidence for safe ultrasound irradiation exposure to the foetus for extended periods (Ang et al., 2006). Finally, high quality ultrasound devices are too expensive and not approved for home care use. In fact, there is a remarkable mismatch between ability to examine a foetus in a clinical setting, and the almost complete absence of technology that permits longer term monitoring of a foetus at home. Therefore, in the last years, many efforts (Hany et al., 1989; Jimenez et al., 1999; Kovacs et al., 2000; Mittra et al., 2008; Moghavvemi et al., 2003; Nagal, 1986; Ruffo et al., 2010; Talbert et al., 1986; Varady et al., 2003) have been attempted by the scientific community to find a suitable alternative

Identification of androgen receptor phosphorylation in the primate ovary in vivo

The androgen receptor (AR) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, and is important for both male and female reproductive health. The receptor is a target for a number of post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, which has been intensively studied in vitro. However, little is known about the phosphorylation status of the receptor in target tissues in vivo. The common marmoset is a useful model for studying human reproductive functions, and comparison of the AR primary sequence from this primate shows high conservation of serines known to be phosphorylated in the human receptor and corresponding flanking amino acids. We have used a panel of phosphospecific antibodies to study AR phosphorylation in the marmoset ovary throughout the follicular phase and after treatment with GNRH antagonist or testosterone propionate. In normal follicular phase ovaries, total AR (both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms) immunopositive staining was observed in several cell types including granulosa cells of developing follicles, theca cells and endothelial cells lining blood vessels. Receptor phosphorylation at serines 81, 308, and 650 was detected primarily in the granulosa cells of developing follicles, surface epithelium, and vessel endothelial cells. Testosterone treatment lead to a modest increase in AR staining in all stages of follicle studied, while GNRH antagonist had no effect. Neither treatment significantly altered the pattern of phosphorylation compared to the control group. These results demonstrate that phosphorylation of the AR occurs, at a subset of serine residues, in a reproductive target tissue in vivo, which appears refractory to hormonal manipulations