title: Regulation of pituitary stem cells by epithelial to mesenchymal transition events and signaling pathways.
abstract: The anterior pituitary gland is comprised of specialized cell-types that produce and secrete polypeptide hormones in response to hypothalamic input and feedback from target organs. These specialized cells arise from stem cells that express SOX2 and the pituitary transcription factor PROP1, which is necessary to establish the stem cell pool and promote an epithelial to mesenchymal-like transition, releasing progenitors from the niche. The adult anterior pituitary responds to physiological challenge by mobilizing the SOX2-expressing progenitor pool and producing additional hormone-producing cells. Knowledge of the role of signaling pathways and extracellular matrix components in these processes may lead to improvements in the efficiency of differentiation of embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells into hormone producing cells in vitro. Advances in our basic understanding of pituitary stem cell regulation and differentiation may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for patients with hypopituitarism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5618, USA. Electronic address: lycheung@med.umich.edu.
authors.forename: Leonard Y M
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208-0001, USA. Electronic address: swdavis@mailbox.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Shannon W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5618, USA. Electronic address: rollerm@med.umich.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Brinkmeier
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5618, USA. Electronic address: scamper@med.umich.edu.
authors.forename: Sally A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Camper
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Investgations (UBA-CONICET), University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: mipmillan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: María Inés
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Pérez-Millán
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C102134:Prophet of Pit-1 protein; C527782:SOX2 protein, human; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors
keywords: EMT; Extracellular matrix; PROP1; Pituitary; SOX2; Stem cells