Role of adrenocorticotropic hormone in the development and maintenance of the adrenal cortical vasculature.
The adrenal cortex is a highly vascularized endocrine tissue. A dense network of blood capillaries centripetally irrigates the adrenal gland, allowing every endocrine cell to be in contact with an endothelial cell. The pituitary hormone ACTH controls the coordinated development of the vasculature and the endocrine tissue mass. This suggests that paracrine secretions between steroidogenic adrenocytes and capillary endothelial cells participate in the control of adrenocortical homeostasis. Besides its effect on the vascular tone of arteries, ACTH induces the expression of the angiogenic cytokine VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor-A) in primary cultures of adrenocortical cells. This growth factor is a specific mitogen for endothelial cells and is likely to mediate the hormonal control of adrenocortical vascularization through a paracrine mechanism. The newly discovered angiogenic factor EG-VEGF (endocrine-gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor), the expression of which is restricted to endocrine glands and which is preferentially mitogenic for endocrine tissue-derived endothelial cells, is another candidate mediator of great potential interest.
Thomas
Michaël
M
INSERM EMI 01-05, Department of Cellular Responses and Dynamics, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, 17 Rue des Martyrs, F-38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Keramidas
Michelle
M
Monchaux
Emmanuelle
E
Feige
Jean-Jacques
JJ
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply*; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042561:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042561:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone