Abstract
Advances in genomic technologies are revolutionizing the practice of medicine by delivering molecular diagnoses that can be informative for prognosis and treatment of genetic disorders. Most of the known genetic causes of multiple pituitary hormone deficiency have been investigated as monogenic disorders. It can be challenging to predict clinical features from genetic data, as loss of function mutations in some genes can present with a spectrum of phenotypes ranging from craniofacial abnormalities, intellectual disability, and neurosensory and neuroendocrine defects to pituitary hormone deficiency with no other abnormalities. Although maternal exposures could be contributing factors, the contribution of rare, deleterious variation in other genes is a likely contributor. In humans, loss of function mutations in the transcription factor SIX3 cause variable, autosomal dominant holoprosencephaly with incomplete penetrance, and mouse models recapitulate some of the clinical features. Because Six3 and Pou1f1 gene expression patterns overlap in pituitary development, we hypothesized that doubly heterozygous mice (Six3+/-; Pou1f1+/dw) might have pituitary anomalies not present in singly heterozygous mice. We intercrossed Six3+/- and Pou1f1+/dw mice to produce doubly heterozygous animals. At e11.5, both Six3+/- and Six3+/-; Pou1f1+/dw exhibited abnormal morphology of the developing infundibulum and Rathke’s pouch, although ventral diencephalon expression of Tle4, Fgf10, and Nkx2.1 appeared normal. Both newborn Six3+/- and Six3+/-; Pou1f1+/dw littermates had abnormal pituitary gland morphology that resembled that of Aes-/-. AES is a co-repressor that interacts with SIX3. Specification of vasopressin neurons and anterior lobe hormone cell types appeared normal. Mice of all genotypes were born in expected Mendelian ratios (N=144, p=0.49), and there were no significant differences in body weight at 3 wks. A portion of the Six3+/- and doubly heterozygous mice developed hydrocephalus, exhibited failure to thrive, and died (6-9% of N=82, 85, respectively). At 6 wks, 25% (N=61) of the Six3+/-; Pou1f1+/dw animals exhibited striking pituitary dysmorphology in which the rostral aspect of the pituitary penetrated the palate. This was not observed in single heterozygotes. These results reveal that haploinsufficiency for Six3 affects Rathke’s pouch formation, resulting in pituitary gland dysmorphology in and around the stem cell niche. A significant portion of the Six3+/-; Pou1f1+/dw doubly heterozygous mice have a more pronounced pituitary phenotype than Six3+/-, supporting the possibility of digenic pituitary disease and highlighting phenotypic variability. Genetically engineered mice provide an excellent tool for assessing the possibility of gene-gene interactions that could enhance the severity of hypopituitarism and associated craniofacial development.
Role of PROP1 in Pituitary Gland Growth
