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Endocrine Abstracts (2012) 29 S14.1

ICEECE2012 Symposia Wnt/Beta-catenin in pituitary development and disease (3 abstracts)

β-catenin deficiency disrupts patterning of the ventral diencephalon, causing adenohypophysis over growth and dysmorphology

S. Camper , A. Mortensen & S. Davis


University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.


β-catenin is thought to play an important, intrinsic role in early pituitary development by regulating adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary) transcription factor activity. Expression of β-catenin is detected in the adenohypophysis, rostral mesenchyme, and neural ectoderm, including the area that develops into the infundibulum and neurohypophysis, and nearby regions. The importance of β-catenin expression in the neural ectoderm and mesenchyme has not been addressed, and the precise role of β-catenin expression in the anterior pituitary is controversial. We tested the function of β-catenin using a panel of cre alleles to inactivate the gene in specific regions. Wnt1-cre knocks out β-catenin in the midbrain and migratory neural crest during head development, eliminating expression in the neural ectoderm and rostral mesenchyme. This results in dramatic expansion and dysmorphology of the adenohypophysis with no obvious effect on specification or differentiation of hormone producing cells. The organ overgrowth is attributable to induction of an abnormally large area of the oral ectoderm to become Rathke’s pouch, marked by ISL1 and LHX3. Elimination of β-catenin in the neural crest shifts the expression of SIX6 and the regions of BMP and FGF signaling that emanate from the infundibulum. Lineage tracing experiments show that P0-cre is active in neural-crest derived mesenchyme and the adenohypophysis. In contrast to Wnt1-cre, P0-cre mediated deletion of β-catenin has no obvious effects on the adenohypophysis. This is surprising given the idea that β-catenin has an intrinsic role in adenohypophysis development. Our results imply that β-catenin is necessary for patterning the ventral diencephalon and underscore the significance of establishing a proper organizing center there for normal pituitary development.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details are unavailable.

Volume 29

15th International & 14th European Congress of Endocrinology

European Society of Endocrinology 

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