Hormones articles within Nature

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  • Article |

    Comparisons of steroid hormone concentrations in dentin samples from fossil mammoth tusks with those from a modern elephant tusk provide evidence of periodic increases in testosterone in the male mammoth characteristic of musth episodes.

    • Michael D. Cherney
    • , Daniel C. Fisher
    •  & Alexei N. Tikhonov

  • Article |

    Thyroid-stimulating hormone and autoantibody M22 push the extracellular domain of the thyrotropin receptor into an upright active conformation, revealing a universal activation mechanism of glycoprotein hormone receptors and providing the molecular basis of Graves’ disease, hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease.

    • Jia Duan
    • , Peiyu Xu
    •  & H. Eric Xu

  • Article |

    The cryo-electron microscopy structure of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-loading complex—a complex in which Hsp70 loads GR onto Hsp90 and Hop—is described, providing insights into how the chaperones Hsp90 and Hsp70 coordinate to facilitate GR remodelling for activation.

    • Ray Yu-Ruei Wang
    • , Chari M. Noddings
    •  & David A. Agard

  • Article |

    Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the luteinizing hormone–choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR), in complex with Gs and in various states of activation, reveal a distinct mechanism of receptor activation, with implications for drug discovery.

    • Jia Duan
    • , Peiyu Xu
    •  & H. Eric Xu

  • Article |

    A role and mechanism of action are identified for INSP3R1 in the stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis and mitochondrial oxidation by glucagon, suggesting that INSP3R1 may be a target for ameliorating dysregulation of hepatic glucose metabolism.

    • Rachel J. Perry
    • , Dongyan Zhang
    •  & Gerald I. Shulman

  • News |

    Hidden ancestry gives Pheidole ants potential to develop into huge-headed fighters.

    • Ed Yong

  • Letter |

    Progesterone stimulates an increase in Ca2+ levels in human sperm, but the underlying signalling mechanism is poorly understood. Two studies now show that progesterone activates the sperm-specific, pH-sensitive CatSper calcium channel, leading to a rapid influx of Ca2+ ions into the spermatozoa. These results should help to define the physiological role of progesterone and CatSper in sperm, and could lead to the development of new classes of non-hormonal contraceptives.

    • Polina V. Lishko
    • , Inna L. Botchkina
    •  & Yuriy Kirichok

  • Letter |

    Progesterone stimulates an increase in Ca2+ levels in human sperm, but the underlying signalling mechanism is poorly understood. Two studies now show that progesterone activates the sperm-specific, pH-sensitive CatSper calcium channel, leading to a rapid influx of Ca2+ ions into the spermatozoa. These results should help to define the physiological role of progesterone and CatSper in sperm, and could lead to the development of new classes of non-hormonal contraceptives.

    • Timo Strünker
    • , Normann Goodwin
    •  & U. Benjamin Kaupp

  • Letter |

    Angiotensins have a crucial role in blood pressure regulation and are generated by cleavage of a larger protein, angiotensinogen, by the enzyme renin. Structures of angiotensinogen alone and in complex with renin show that a large conformational change is required to expose the renin-cleavage site. The authors also show that this transition is regulated by oxidation and that women with pre-eclampsia have higher levels of the more active, oxidized, form.

    • Aiwu Zhou
    • , Robin W. Carrell
    •  & Randy J. Read

  • Letter |

    Plants or animals with identical genomes in a given species can develop into wildly differing forms, depending on environmental conditions, a phenomenon that is widespread in nature yet rarely described in genetic and molecular terms. These authors show that the formation of additional teeth-like structures in the mouth of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus in response to overcrowding is mediated by the same endocrine system that controls dauer larva formation.

    • Gilberto Bento
    • , Akira Ogawa
    •  & Ralf J. Sommer

  • Letter |

    The ovarian hormones oestrogen and progesterone increase breast cancer risk but the cellular mechanisms are unclear. Here it is shown that the size of the mammary stem cell pool in mice is regulated by steroid hormone signalling, although these cells lack the receptors for oestrogen and progesterone. The augmented pool could lead to clonal expansion of a mutated cell, possibly accounting for the increased incidence of breast cancer associated with pregnancy.

    • Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat
    • , François Vaillant
    •  & Jane E. Visvader

  • News & Views |

    Hormones are not all-powerful in determining whether birds develop with male or female features. Chickens that are genetic sexual mosaics reveal that individual cells also have a say in the matter.

    • Lindsey A. Barske
    •  & Blanche Capel

  • Authors |

    Testosterone's 'bad guy' image is rooted in folklore, not fact.

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