title: Pituitary action of cytokines: focus on BMP-4 and gp130 family.
abstract: The anterior pituitary can develop benign tumors of different sizes, classified as micro- and macroadenomas, frequently associated with high levels of hormone production, leading to different associated syndromes like Cushing's disease, acromegaly or prolactinomas. Much work has been done in order to understand the signaling pathways and the factors and hormones involved in the pituitary tumorigenic process. In recent years, much evidence has been collected and it is now well documented that cytokines of the gp130 family, such as interleukin-6, that use gp130 as a common signaling protein stimulate not only the proliferation but also the hormone secretion of pituitary cells. Experiments in vivo have shown that the overexpression of the gp130 receptor resulted in pituitary abnormal growth. Moreover, it has been recently described that bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), a member of the TGF-beta family, has a stimulatory role on lactosomatotropic cells promoting the development of prolactinomas but it has an inhibitory action on the corticotropic lineage. This inhibitory action prevents Cushing's disease progression. Furthermore, BMP-4 mediates the antiproliferative action of retinoic acid in these cells. The present review highlights the most recent work about gp130 and TGF-beta cytokine families and their role in pituitary tumorigenesis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Fisiología y Biología Molecular, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, FCEN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Damiana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giacomini
authors.forename: Matías
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acuña
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gerez
authors.forename: Alberto Carbia
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silberstein
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Páez-Pereda
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labeur
authors.forename: Marily
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Theodoropoulou
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: Günter K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Stalla
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arzt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130 / Q000502:physiology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000502:physiology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C525809:BMP4 protein, human; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; D050822:Cytokine Receptor gp130