Endocrine Abstracts

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Dysfunction in the mechanisms that regulate cell numbers in the pituitary gland can underlie hypopituitarism as well as the generation of tumours. Investigations into how these conditions arise has led to an interest in identifying mechanisms for correct maintenance of endocrine cells throughout life. Currently, the source and identity of signals promoting this maintenance in the postnatal pituitary are not known. We have previously shown that pituitary-specific disruptions in...

The function of stem cells in the anterior pituitary gland, their role in homeostasis during life and possible involvement in pituitary tumours remain largely unknown. We have previously shown that cells exclusively within the Sox2+ compartment of the mouse pituitary have progenitor/stem cell properties in culture where they can self-renew and terminally differentiate. To address if these cells act as stem cells in vivo, we generated an inducible Sox2-C...

The primary cilium of cells detects and transduces extracellular signals, in particular, amplifying the SHH pathway, a key pathway required for pituitary development. FUZ is a planar cell polarity (PCP) effector, which is essential for normal ciliogenesis, required for recruiting retrograde intraflagellar transport proteins to the base of the organelle. The primary cilia of Fuz-/- mutants are shorter or non-functional. Previous work has reported ciliopathy ...

The FGF signalling pathway regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell specification in mutliple developing and adult tissues. It has also been implicated in tumor development and progression with a significant role in the cancer pathobiology of several malignant tumors including melanoma, breast, pancreas, head and neck and non-small lung cell cancer. FGF signalling plays a major role in the postnatal hypothalamic-pituitary (HP) axis, with dysregulation ...

Chronic stress is a pervasive concern in the modern society. A long-term hyper activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis leads to elevated amounts of stress hormones [e.g. ACTH and glucocorticoids (GCs)]. This can incur maladaptation that eventually contributes to mental illness, cardiovascular dysfunctions, diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Emerging key players for stress adaptation of the HPA axis are stem/progenitor cell populations. In this study,...

Stress can lead to an increase in body fat and obesity as main clinical conditions preceding the metabolic syndrome. In metabolic stress, hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been observed, resulting in increased steroidogenesis and alteration of cortisol secretion1. This increased sensitivity of the HPA axis may be related to the development of comorbidities or severe illness in patients with metabolic diseases and vice ...

Somatic stem cells of multiple tissues such as brain, blood, gut epithelium and epidermis, have specific roles in tissue homeostasis and plasticity of cell types. There is evidence that when mutated, such cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs) also underlie tumorigenesis, but their presence in many tumours is elusive. In the pituitary gland, somatic stem cells (PSCs) have been previously identified and characterised but little is known about their role in tumorigenesis. Adaman...

Somatic stem cells of multiple tissues such as brain, blood, gut epithelium and epidermis, have specific roles in tissue homeostasis and plasticity of cell types. There is evidence that, when mutated, such cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), also underlie tumorigenesis, but their presence in many tumours is elusive. In the pituitary gland, somatic stem cells (PSCs) have been previously identified and characterised in vitro and in vivo, but so far there is no ...

The Hippo kinase cascade is a crucial signalling pathway regulating organ growth during development in numerous organs. There is mounting evidence implicating this signalling pathway in tumour formation, where it is emerging as an anti-cancer target due to effective pharmacological inhibition of its transcriptional activators YAP/TAZ. We previously demonstrated activity of the Hippo kinase cascade in the mouse pituitary and nuclear association of YAP/TAZ with SOX2 expressing p...