Expression of Trophic Peptides and Their Receptors in Chromaffin Cells and Pheochromocytoma

Erwan Thouënnon (1, 2) , Alice Pierre (1, 2) , Laurent Yon (1, 2) , Youssef Anouar (1, 2)

1 DC2N - Différenciation et communication neuronale et neuroendocrine
2 IFRMP 23 - Institut Fédératif de Recherches Multidisciplinaires sur les Peptides

Pheochromocytomas are catecholamine-producing tumors arising from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla or extra-adrenal location. Along with catechola-mines, tumoral cells produce and secrete elevated quantities of trophic peptides which are normally released in a regulated manner by the normal adrenal medulla. Among these peptides, the amounts of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), adrenomedullin (AM), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are particularly high. These peptides can exert endocrine, paracrine or autocrine effects in numerous cell types. In particular, they have been shown to be involved in cell proliferation and survival, catechol-amine production and secretion, and angiogenesis. Some of these processes are exacerbated in pheochromocy-tomas, raising the possibility of the involvement of trophic peptides. Here, we review the expression levels of NPY, PACAP, and AM and theirs receptors in chromaffin cells and pheochromocytomas, and address their possible implication in the adrenal medulla tumorigenesis and malignant development of pheochromocytomas.

Mots clés: Chromaffin cells; Malignancy; Tumorigenesis; Trophic peptides; Pheochromocytomas

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Erwan Thouënnon, Alice Pierre, Laurent Yon, Youssef Anouar. Expression of Trophic Peptides and Their Receptors in Chromaffin Cells and Pheochromocytoma. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, 2010. ⟨hal-01706432⟩