Notch-Dependent Pituitary SOX2(+) Stem Cells Exhibit a Timed Functional Extinction in Regulation of the Postnatal Gland
Although SOX2(+) stem cells are present in the postnatal pituitary gland, how they are regulated molecularly and whether they are required for pituitary functions remain unresolved questions. Using a conditional knockout animal model, here we demonstrate that ablation of the canonical Notch signalin...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682291/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26651607 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2015.11.001 |
Sumario: | Although SOX2(+) stem cells are present in the postnatal pituitary gland, how they are regulated molecularly and whether they are required for pituitary functions remain unresolved questions. Using a conditional knockout animal model, here we demonstrate that ablation of the canonical Notch signaling in the embryonic pituitary gland leads to progressive depletion of the SOX2(+) stem cells and hypoplastic gland. Furthermore, we show that the SOX2(+) stem cells initially play a significant role in contributing to postnatal pituitary gland expansion by self-renewal and differentiating into distinct lineages in the immediate postnatal period. However, we found that within several weeks postpartum, the SOX2(+) stem cells switch to an essentially dormant state and are no longer required for homeostasis/tissue adaptation. Our results present a dynamic tissue homeostatic model in which stem cells provide an initial contribution to the growth of the neonatal pituitary gland, whereas the mature gland can be maintained in a stem cell-independent fashion. |
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