Identification of stem-cells in the pituitary gland of animal models with hypopituirarism

• Grant number: 10/11611-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Luciani Renata Silveira de Carvalho
• Grantee: Luciani Renata Silveira de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The stem cell tissue-specific have been identified in many organs capable of proliferation, self-renewal, differentiation potential and ability to tissue regeneration after cell loss. The adult pituitary has the ability to adjust the relative and absolute number of each of the cell types in response to physiological changes. Although there have been reports of stem cells involved in cell renewal and homeostatic regulation pituitary, little is known about the expression profile in frames of hypopituitarism. During the pituitary development, several transcription factors are expressed in an orchestrate time spacial resulting in terminal differentiation of the cells with the production and secretion of hormones by the adenohypophysis. Among them Prop1 and Pou1f1 (Pit1) genes once mutated lead to multiple pituitary hormone deficiency. Spontaneous mutant mice in the Prop1 gene, named Ames, present at birth pituitary dysmorphology aspect of hypoplastic pituitary, evolving with full hypoplasia on the seventh postnatal day. In contrast, animals mutant for gene Pou1f1, called Snell, presents a normal aspect of the pituitary gland at birth that progresses to hypoplasia after the first week of life. In these models that courses with pituitary hypoplasia and hypopituitarism.The knockout of the Cga gene responsible for production of the alpha subunit of glycoprotein hormones, has hypopituitarism and pituitary hyperplasia. The aim of our study is to analyze the expression of markers of stem cells (Sox2, Oct4 and S100) in experimental models of hypopituitarism using spontaneous mutant animals as Ames (Prop1), Snell (Pou1f1) and knockout of the gene Cga in several stages of postnatal development by comparing them to their respective wild. (AU)