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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

lipid-rafts, interleukin-6, cortisol release, adrenal cells

College

Life Sciences

Department

Physiology and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex and is involved in response to stress and increases blood pressure, blood sugar levels, suppresses the immune system, and may cause infertility in women. The pathway in which protein Interleukin-6, also known as IL-6, stimulates the synthesis of this steroid is not completely understood. One aspect of the pathway that has not been studied is whether or not the IL-6 pathway is dependent on cell membrane lipid-rafts for cortisol release. In discovering the involvement of lipid-rafts in the IL-6 pathway, we will not only further understand IL-6 involvement in cortisol production, but we will better understand how to regulate cortisol release and treat its potentially harmful effects on the body.

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