Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:Describe the roles of male and female reproductive hormonesDiscuss the interplay of the ovarian and menstrual cyclesDescribe the process of menopause

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how hormones regulate the excretory systemDiscuss the role of hormones in the reproductive systemDescribe how hormones regulate metabolismExplain the role of hormones in different diseases

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Metabolic syndrome refers to dysregulated metabolism that’s associated with increased risks of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. In women, this syndrome becomes more in common after menopause, when levels of circulating 17β-estradiol drop. Estrogen replacement therapy can help, but its long-term use is linked to other problems, like gynecological cancers. To explore new options, researchers recently administered butyrate, a fatty acid, to mice with metabolic syndrome whose ovaries had been removed, as butyrate has been shown to alleviate obesity and insulin resistance, both of which are linked to metabolic syndrome. The researchers found that oral butyrate reduced body fat and blood lipid levels in the mice while increasing whole-body energy usage and improving insulin sensitivity. Investigation of the mechanism in cultured muscle cells revealed that butyrate induced expression of the estrogen receptor ERα and activated the proteins AMPK and PGC1α..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-related death in men. The standard treatment is androgen deprivation therapy (castration), but prostate cancer becomes resistant to this treatment over time. Targeting the androgen receptor seems logical but has had little effect on patient survival so far. Intriguingly, a chemical related to estrogen, 4-hydroxyestradiol (4-OHE2), also promotes cancer occurrence and progression. A recent study examined the role of 4-OHE2 in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells. The protein CYP1B1 is involved in the production of 4-OHE2, and CYP1B1 was found to be elevated in CRPC cells. In addition, 4-OHE2 promoted ERα transcriptional activity in CRPC cells. 4-OHE2 promoted tumor formation through the IL6-STAT3 pathway, which sends inflammatory signals important in many cancers..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinoma (tRCC) is characterized by translocation of the gene TFE3 on chromosome Xp11.2. Xp11.2 tRCC is much more common in women than men, suggesting that estrogen may be involved. In addition, the enzyme TOP2 is known to mediate translocation-enabling DNA breakage in some cancers, and TOP2-promoting drugs increase Xp11.2 tRCC risk, but whether and how estrogen, the estrogen receptor (ER), and TOP2 participate in the development of this cancer remain unclear. To learn more, researchers recently analyzed DNA breaks and protein binding in a kidney cell line. They found that TOP2β created DNA breaks and that estrogen signaling through ERα promoted this activity. Further analyses revealed that TOP2β and ERα both bound to TFE3 translocation sites in Xp11.2 tRCC cell lines and patients to mediate estrogen-dependent DNA breakage. However, TOP2β and ERα didn’t bind to each other..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coronary heart disease is a serious condition, and its prognosis is largely determined by the degree of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. MI/R injury occurs when blood returns to cardiac tissues and is partly a function of calcium overload and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. There is growing evidence that estrogen is protective against MI/R injury and a recent study examined the potential mechanisms of this protective effect in rats and cultured cells. Reducing estrogen levels by removing both ovaries exacerbated MI/R injury and reduced levels of SERCA2a, a critical calcium ion pump, but SERCA2a could be increased to nearly normal levels by estrogen supplementation (17β-estradiol). Both supplemental estrogen and exogenous SERCA2a overexpression decreased signs of ER stress and alleviated myocardial damage. Conversely, reducing SERCA2a expression exacerbated ER stress and myocardial damage, and adding estrogen after that reduction could not protect against the damage or ER stress..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Endometrial cancer is the most common form of uterine cancer and is most frequently diagnosed in women over 55. A new study proposes a key mechanism that promotes the formation of endometrial tumors. It starts with ERα, one of two receptors activated by the sex hormone estrogen. Experiments on human cancer cells showed that activating ERα significantly increased the expression of the protein PIWIL1, which is detected in different forms of cancer in both men and women. A closer look revealed that ERα binds to a unique site of the PIWIL1 gene known as a half-ERE. That binding signals the expression of the PIWIL1 protein and thereby promotes tumor growth. Understanding how this estrogen-stimulated pathway works in the female body could help researchers and clinicians expand treatment options available to women with endometrial cancer..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students experience the steps of the engineering design process as they design solutions for a real-world problem that could affect their health. After a quick review of the treatment processes that municipal water goes through before it comes from the tap, they learn about the still-present measurable contamination of drinking water due to anthropogenic (human-made) chemicals. Substances such as prescription medication, pesticides and hormones are detected in the drinking water supplies of American and European metropolitan cities. Using chlorine as a proxy for estrogen and other drugs found in water, student groups design and test prototype devices that remove the contamination as efficiently and effectively as possible. They use plastic tubing and assorted materials such as activated carbon, cotton balls, felt and cloth to create filters with the capability to regulate water flow to optimize the cleaning effect. They use water quality test strips to assess their success and redesign for improvement. They conclude by writing comprehensive summary design reports.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide. More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positive, indicating that they might be treatable with endocrine therapy. However, half of patients with ERα-positive breast cancer develop endocrine resistance, a major roadblock to successful therapy. In a new study, researchers sought to learn more about ERα-positive breast cancer to support the development of better treatments. The enzyme TRIM3, a regulator of protein stability vs. breakdown, was upregulated in ERα-positive breast cancer tissues, and high TRIM3 expression was associated with poor survival in patients receiving endocrine therapy. In experiments on mice and cell lines, TRIM3 promoted ERα signaling and was required for cancer growth and migration. Specifically, the filamin/NHL domain of TRIM3 bound to the DNA-binding domain of ERα in the nucleus..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.