PCP4: a regulator of aldosterone synthesis

Purkinje cell protein 4 (PCP4) is a calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein that accelerates calcium association and dissociation with CaM. It has been previously detected in aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA), but details on its expression and function in adrenocortical tissues have remained unknown. Felizola and colleagues performed an immunohistochemical analysis of PCP4 in normal adrenal tissue, APA, cortisol-producing adenomas, and in idiopathic hyperaldosteronism cases. They found that PCP4 immunoreactivity was predominantly detected in APA and in the zona glomerulosa of normal adrenal and idiopathic hyperaldosterone tissue. These results indicate that PCP4 is a regulator of aldosterone production in normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic human adrenocortical cells.

Read the full article at Felizola et al. (2014) Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 52 159–167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/JME-13-0248