NOD proteins and their functional relevance to normal and adenomatous pituitary [Elektronische Ressource] / Bianca Fröhlich

NOD proteins and their functional relevance to normal and adenomatous pituitary Bianca Fröhlich A dissertation submitted for the degree of doctor rerum naturalium at the Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Neuroendocrinology Group Bianca Fröhlich Munich, February 2010 Ich versichere hiermit ehrenwörtlich, dass die vorgelegte Dissertation von mir selbständig und ohne unerlaubte Hilfe angefertigt ist. München, den _______________________________ _________________________________________ (Unterschrift) Dissertation eingereicht am: 23.02.2010 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Harry Mac Williams Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Weiß Sondervotum: Prof. Dr. Günter K. Stalla Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 06.09.2010 i Table of Contents Declaration ....................................................................................................................... i Abstract - 1 - List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... - 2 - 1. Introduction ................ 1 1.1 The pituitary gland .......................................... 1 1.2 Pituitary tumor cells AtT20 and their endocrine applications ..................................... 2 1.3 Tumor development and cell cycle – a general overview ............. 3 1.3.