title: Signaling mechanisms in pituitary morphogenesis and cell fate determination.
abstract: The development of the pituitary gland has provided an instructive model system for exploring the mechanisms by which differentiated cell types arise from a common primordium in response to extrinsic and intrinsic signals. Recent studies have established that organ commitment, early patterning, proliferation and positional determination of cell types in the developing pituitary are mediated through the integral actions of multiple signaling gradients acting on an initially uniform ectodermal cell population. Studies of the cell-autonomous transcriptional mediators of the transient signaling events have also provided insight into the molecular mechanisms by which overlapping patterns of transcription factor expression can positionally specify pituitary cell lineages. There is emerging evidence for a morphogenetic code for the development of the pituitary gland based on the cooperative and opposing actions of multiple signaling gradients, mediated by corresponding expression patterns of temporally and spatially induced transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. jdasen@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dasen
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004330:Drosophila; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014981:Xenopus; D029867:Xenopus Proteins
chemical_list: C525810:Bmp4 protein, mouse; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; C525812:bmp4 protein, Xenopus; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors