Daily Endocrinology Research Analysis

The adrenal glands are essential endocrine organs that secrete key hormones maintaining physiological homeostasis. Herein, we established expandable three-dimensional (3D) human adrenocortical organoid (ACO) cultures that preserved the characteristic of zona fasciculata cell lineages and retained their capacity to produce cortisol. The ACOs could secrete glucocorticoids in response to physiological stimuli and thus rescue adrenalectomized mice, indicating their potential for the treatment of primary adrenal insufficiency. Furthermore, by introducing a hotspot pathogenic variant (PRKACA L206R) identified in Cushing's syndrome, we achieved the organoid disease modeling of cortisol-producing adenomas. In summary, this study establishes a human organoid platform to explore homeostasis and dysfunction in adrenal glands, suggesting future applications in disease modeling and regenerative medicine.

Islets of Langerhans are micro-organs scattered throughout the pancreas. They are composed of insulin-producing beta cells, glucagon-producing alpha cells, and somatostatin-producing delta cells. While their transcriptome has been extensively analyzed, protein-level information remains limited due to cell scarcity and purification challenges. Here, we combine cell sorting with highly sensitive mass spectrometry to create the first in-depth proteomic resource of pancreatic islet cells. We achieved a depth exceeding 6000 proteins per endocrine cell population, discovering new cell type-enriched ones. Deep proteomics profiling demonstrated that all three endocrine cell types were inflamed upon interferon gamma (IFNγ) treatment, a mediator of autoimmune damage in type 1 diabetes. Resolving the phosphoproteomic landscape of alpha, beta and delta cells with more than 7000 unique phosphosites per cell type provided insights into cell-specific signaling. This omics dataset offers a valuable resource for understanding pancreatic islet biology in health and disease.

Current therapy for advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is represented by EDP-M (etoposide, doxorubicin, cisplatin + mitotane), but its efficacy is limited and new approaches are needed. Our previous in vitro findings showed that AZD1775, an inhibitor of the G2/M checkpoint gatekeeper Wee1, reduces proliferation and increases apoptosis in ACC cell models. The compensatory upregulation of Myt1, a Wee1-redundant kinase, has been involved in the onset of AZD1775 resistance in other tumour types. Aim of this study was to investigate in vitro and in vivo the effects of AZD1775 alone or combined with EDP-M, and to explore the onset of molecular mechanisms of resistance. In vitro experiments in human ACC cell line NCI-H295R demonstrated that coincubation of AZD1775 and EDP-M exerted synergistic effects in reducing cell viability and proliferation and additive effects in inhibiting cortisol secretion. In NCI-H295R xenografts in nude mice, AZD1775 demonstrated an antitumor efficacy comparable to EDP-M, without synergistic effects. Myt1 upregulation was observed after Wee1 silencing or inhibition by AZD1775 in NCI-H295R and patient-derived ACC cells, but not in mice tumours after 22-days treatment with AZD1775 and/or EDP-M. Interestingly, Myt1 increase after AZD1775 treatment in primary ACC cells was reverted by EDP-M cotreatment. Overall, our data in in vitro and in vivo preclinical ACC models support AZD1775 as a promising ACC therapeutic option, and its combination with EDP-M as a useful strategy to enhance drug efficacy, reduce cortisol secretion, prevent drug resistance and minimize side effects by reducing the therapeutic dosage.