Masashi Higuchi, Saishu Yoshida, Naoko Kanno, Hideo Mitsuishi, Hiroki Ueharu, Mo Chen, Naoto Nishimura, Takako Kato, Yukio Kato
Cell and tissue research 2017 Mar 31The adenohypophysis comprises six types of endocrine cells, including PIT1-lineage cells such as growth hormone (GH)-producing cells and heterogeneous non-endocrine cells, such as pituitary stem/progenitor cells as a source of endocrine cells. We determine the expression of characteristic stem cell marker genes, including sex-determining region Y-box 2 (Sox2), in mouse pituitary-derived non-endocrine cell lines Tpit/E, Tpit/F1 and TtT/GF. We observed high expression of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors in Tpit/F1 cells, which we characterised by cultivation in medium containing a basic FGF and B27 supplement as used for neural stem-cell differentiation. A 4-day cultivation of Tpit/F1 produced floating embryonic stem-cell-like clumps accompanied by a three-fold increase in Sox2 expression. Passages in these clumps maintained the proliferative activity and Sox2 expression levels. After 10 days of cultivation, Tpit/F1 cell clumps were immuno-positive for SOX2 and Ki67 (proliferation marker) and loosely attached to the well bottom. An additional 10 days of cultivation induced the emergence of GH-positive/pituitary-specific transcription factor (PIT1)-negative cells showing migration from the clumps. Pit1 overexpression in attached cells could not induce GH production. Finally, we confirmed the presence of PIT1-negative GH-producing cells (3.2-7.7 % of all GH-positive cells) in rat pituitary. Thus, we demonstrate that Tpit/F1 has the plasticity to differentiate into one type of hormone-producing cell.
Masashi Higuchi, Saishu Yoshida, Naoko Kanno, Hideo Mitsuishi, Hiroki Ueharu, Mo Chen, Naoto Nishimura, Takako Kato, Yukio Kato. Clump formation in mouse pituitary-derived non-endocrine cell line Tpit/F1 promotes differentiation into growth-hormone-producing cells. Cell and tissue research. 2017 Mar 31
PMID: 28364143
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