Recent progress in studies of pituitary tumor pathogenesis.
The mechanisms of tumorigenesis of the human pituitary have been elucidated to a limited extent. Classically, pituitary tumor formation was shown to be induced by thyroidectomy and estrogen administration. Molecular biological and immunohistochemical studies have revealed several aspects of pituitary tumorigenesis. Translineage cell differentiation has been shown to be induced by the aberrant expression of transcription factors and co-factors, such as Pit-1, Prop-1, and estrogen receptor. Defects or overexpression of cell cycle regulators, such as CDK inhibitors, PTTG, and GADD45gamma, result in the abnormal proliferation of pituitary cells. Recently, epigenetic regulation has been suggested to be related to pituitary tumor formation. This article presents a review and update of recent progress in studies of the development and differentiation of pituitary tumors.
Minematsu
Takeo
T
Department of Pathology, Tokai University School of Medicine. Boseidai, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan.
Miyai
Shunsuke
S
Kajiya
Hanako
H
Suzuki
Masanori
M
Sanno
Naoko
N
Takekoshi
Susumu
S
Teramoto
Akira
A
Osamura
Robert Y
RY
D000236:Adenoma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors