title: Cell-cell communication in the pituitary: orchestrator of pulsatile growth hormone secretion?
abstract: Hormone secretion is dependent on intracellular and extracellular regulation of hormone synthesis and release, including classical endocrine and paracrine mechanisms and transcription factors that determine cell differentiation and hormone gene transcription. Recent research has identified direct cell-cell communication in a three-dimensional network of pituitary growth hormone-secreting cells connected by adherens junctions. This challenges the conventional view of endocrine cells as collections of dispersed cells and suggests that physical connectivity mediates cellular responses to coordinate pulsatile secretion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto and Department of Pathology, University Health Network and Toronto Medical Laboratories, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4, Canada. sylvia.asa@uhn.on.ca
authors.forename: Sylvia L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Asa
authors.forename: Gloria S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Tannenbaum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology; D052683:Somatotrophs / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone