scholarly journals Glial-Derived Neurotropic Factor and RET Gene Expression in Normal Human Anterior Pituitary Cell Types and in Pituitary Tumors

2002 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 1879-1884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Japón ◽  
Angel G. Urbano ◽  
Carmen Sáez ◽  
Dolores I. Segura ◽  
Alfonso Leal Cerro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Pituitary Tumors ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Tyrosine Kinase Receptor ◽  
Positive Immunostaining ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
Human Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Neurotropic Factor

Abstract Glial-derived neurotropic factor (GDNF) signaling is mediated through a 2-component system consisting of the so-called GDNF receptor-α (GFRα1), which binds to GDNF. This complex activates the tyrosine kinase receptor RET. In this paper we demonstrate GDNF, GFRα1, and RET mRNA and protein expression in the human anterior pituitary gland. Double immunohistochemistry of anterior pituitary sections showed GDNF immunoreactivity in more than 95% of somatotrophs and to a lesser extent in corticotrophs (20%); it was almost absent in the remaining cell types. Also, although more than 95% of somatotrophs were stained for RET, no positive immunostaining could be detected in other cell types. Furthermore, we have looked for GDNF and RET in human pituitary adenomas of various hormonal phenotypes. Strong positive immunostaining was found for c-RET in all of the GH-secreting adenomas screened as well as in 50% of ACTH-producing adenomas. Positive immunostaining for GDNF was found in all of the GH-secreting adenomas and in 10% of the corticotropinomas. Lastly, we found strong positive immunostaining for GFRα1 in 90% of the somatotropinomas and 50% of the corticotropinomas as well as in 1 of 8 prolactinomas and 1 of 13 nonfunctioning adenomas. All of the remaining pituitary tumors screened were negative for RET, GDNF, and GFRα1. This study indicates that GDNF may well be acting in the regulation of somatotroph cell growth and/or cell function in the normal human anterior pituitary gland. The expression of RET in all of the somatotropinomas and in 50% of the ACTH-producing tumors implies that GDNF and RET could be involved in the pathogenesis of pituitary tumors.

Incidence and characterization of age related amyloid deposits in the human anterior pituitary gland

1988 ◽  
Vol 412 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takatoshi Tashima ◽  
Tetsuyuki Kitamoto ◽  
Jun Tateishi ◽  
Koji Ogomori ◽  
Hiroyuki Nakagaki
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Amyloid Deposits ◽  
Human Anterior Pituitary

Genetic Bases of Estrogen-Induced Pituitary Growth in an Intercross between the ACI and Copenhagen Rat Strains: Dominant Mendelian Inheritance of the ACI Phenotype*

Endocrinology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 140 (6) ◽  
pp. 2828-2835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Spady ◽  
Karen L. Pennington ◽  
Rodney D. McComb ◽  
James D. Shull
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Pituitary Tumors ◽  
Backcross Progeny ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Rat Strains ◽  
Genetic Trait ◽  
Inbred Rat

Abstract Estrogens stimulate cell proliferation in a variety of tissues and are widely believed to be contributing factors in the etiology of certain cancer types in humans. The molecular mechanisms through which estrogens regulate cell proliferation are currently unknown. Estrogens stimulate proliferation of the PRL-producing lactotroph of the rat anterior pituitary gland and induce development of PRL-producing pituitary tumors in several inbred rat strains. Therefore, the lactotroph provides a well defined model for identifying the mechanisms through which estrogens regulate cell proliferation and/or survival. Data from our laboratory and others indicate that the relative sensitivity to the pituitary growth-promoting actions of estrogens is highly strain specific. This allows genetics-based approaches to be used to address the molecular mechanisms through which estrogens stimulate lactotroph proliferation and induce pituitary tumor development. In the present study we have examined the ability of diethylstilbestrol (DES) to induce pituitary growth in the genetically related AxC-Irish (ACI) and Copenhagen (COP) strains and their derived F1, F2, and backcross progeny. The data presented herein indicate that the anterior pituitary gland of the ACI strain displays approximately a 2-fold greater growth response to administered DES than does the pituitary gland of the COP strain. The average pituitary weight in male ACI rats was increased from 9.2± 0.2 mg (mean ± sd) in untreated rats to 63.7± 12.6 mg in rats treated with DES for 12 weeks, whereas in male COP rats, DES increased pituitary weight from 12.7 ± 0.9 to 38.1± 8.2 mg. The ACI phenotype was inherited in the F1, F2, and backcross progeny of an ACI × COP intercross as a dominant genetic trait, and the approximately 30 mg of additional pituitary growth displayed by the DES-treated ACI rat, relative to that of the treated COP rat, appeared to result from the actions of a single locus. Moreover, in F1 progeny from an ACI × Brown Norway intercross, the ACI phenotype was inherited as a dominant or incompletely dominant genetic trait. These data, when compared with findings of previous studies using the Fischer 344 rat strain, provide the first indication that distinct genetic pathways contribute to regulation of estrogen-induced pituitary growth and induction of PRL-producing pituitary tumors in the ACI and F344 rat strains.

scholarly journals LOCALIZATION OF PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITIES IN THE RAT ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND

1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEORGES PELLETIER ◽  
ALEX B. NOVIKOFF
Keyword(s):  
Golgi Apparatus ◽  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Secretory Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Pituitary Cells ◽  
Blood Capillaries ◽  
Phosphatase Activities ◽  
Thiamine Pyrophosphatase

All five known secretory cell types of the rat anterior pituitary gland display nucleoside diphosphatase (NDPase) activity throughout the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), including the nuclear envelope but not the specialized region of ER at the inner aspect of the Golgi apparatus known as GERL. The functions of the ER diphosphatase are currently unknown. However, speculations concerning its association with glucuronyl transferase may focus on the metabolic roles of the ER in pituitary cells other than those directly related to secretory protein transport. The gonadotrophs have been studied for thiamine pyrophosphatase and acid phosphatase activities as well as NDPase activity. The results suggest that the secretory granules of gonadotrophs arise from GERL and not from the inner element of the Golgi apparatus. The innermost Golgi element of this cell type shows NDPase and thiamine pyrophosphatase activities and appears to be composed, in part at least, of anastomosing tubules. Nucleoside phosphatase activity is also present at the surfaces of all five secretory cell types and between the cells and adjacent blood capillaries.

scholarly journals Angiogenesis in Pituitary Adenomas and the Normal Pituitary Gland

2000 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 1159-1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen E. Turner ◽  
Zsusha Nagy ◽  
Kevin C. Gatter ◽  
Margaret M. Esiri ◽  
Adrian L. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Pituitary Adenomas ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Pituitary Tumors ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Ulex Europaeus ◽  
Normal Pituitary Gland ◽  
Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin I ◽  
Acth Secreting ◽  
Tumor Types

Abstract Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth beyond a few millimeters in diameter, and the intratumoral microvessel count that represents a measure of angiogenesis has been correlated with tumor behavior in a variety of different tumor types. To date no systematic study has assessed pituitary tumors of different secretory types, correlating vascular count with tumor size. The vascular densities of pituitary tumors and normal anterior pituitary were therefore assessed by counting vessels labeled using the vascular markers CD31 and ulex europaeus agglutinin I. One hundred and twelve surgically removed pituitary adenomas (30 GH-secreting, 25 prolactinomas, 15 ACTH-secreting, and 42 nonfunctioning tumors) were compared with 13 specimens of normal anterior pituitary gland. The vascular counts in the normal anterior pituitary gland were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those in the tumors using both CD31 and ulex europaeus agglutinin I. In addition, microprolactinomas were significantly less vascular (P < 0.05) than macroprolactinomas, although there was no such difference between vascular densities of microadenomas and macroadenomas producing GH. ACTH-secreting tumors were, like microprolactinomas, of much lower vascular density than the normal pituitary and other secreting and nonsecreting tumor types. In marked contrast to other tumors, pituitary adenomas are less vascular than the normal pituitary gland, suggesting that there may be inhibitors of angiogenesis that play an important role in the behavior of these tumors.

scholarly journals Proteomic Analysis of the Human Anterior Pituitary Gland

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 759-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soujanya D. Yelamanchi ◽  
Ankur Tyagi ◽  
Varshasnata Mohanty ◽  
Pinaki Dutta ◽  
Márta Korbonits ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Proteomic Analysis ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Human Anterior Pituitary

Characterization of a tissue kallikrein in human prolactin-secreting adenomas

1990 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Jones ◽  
C. D. Figueroa ◽  
C. Smith ◽  
D. R. Cullen ◽  
K. D. Bhoola
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Golgi Complex ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Intracellular Distribution ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
Tissue Kallikrein ◽  
Functional Importance ◽  
Human Prolactin ◽  
Human Anterior Pituitary

ABSTRACT Immunoreactive tissue kallikrein was co-localized with prolactin in all the eleven prolactin-secreting adenomas of the human anterior pituitary gland examined in this study. The intracellular distribution of immunoreactivity in the prolactin-secreting cells suggests that tissue kallikrein is located within the Golgi complex of these cells. Both the intracellular hormone-processing action and the kininogenase activity of tissue kallikrein may be of functional importance in human prolactinomas. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 124, 327–331

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