Abstract
The pituitary gland is a slow generative tissue but actively responds to demands by changing homeostasis. The marginal cell layer (MCL) facing the residual lumen has long been indicated as a stem/progenitor cell niche of the pituitary. On the other hand, the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR), which localizes at the tight-junction of the polarized epithelium, is known to participate in the development, differentiation and regeneration of specified tissues. The present study attempts to characterize the cells lining the MCL during pituitary development by immunohistochemistry of CAR. Consequently, we found that CAR localizes in an apical surface of the single cell layer facing the oral cavity in the invaginating oral epithelium on rat embryonic day (E) 11.5. On E13.5, when this single layer constructs the MCL in the pituitary primordium Rathke’s pouch, CAR-positive cells occupied the MCL and this localization pattern of CAR was persistently maintained throughout life. Moreover, clusters of CAR-positive cells were also found in the parenchyma. CAR-positive cells were positive for stem/progenitor cell markers sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) and epithelial calcium-dependent adhesion (E-cadherin). However, prior to the postnatal growth wave, cells positive for CAR in the basolateral surface constructed multiple cell layers beneath the MCL and cell-type transition to a putative migratory cell phenotype by fading of SOX2 and E-cadherin occurred, suggesting the composition of new putative niches in the parenchyma. These data, together with our previous reports, suggest that CAR-positive cells are pituitary stem/progenitor cells and compose putative stem/progenitor cell niches in the MCL and parenchyma.









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- ACTH:
-
Adrenocorticotropic hormone
- CAR:
-
Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor
- DAPI:
-
4′ 6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole
- E-cadherin:
-
Epithelial calcium-dependent adhesion
- EMT:
-
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition
- FITC:
-
Fluorescein isothiocyanate
- FSH:
-
Follicle-stimulating hormone
- GFP:
-
Green fluorescent protein
- GH:
-
Growth hormone
- MCL:
-
Marginal cell layer
- PCR:
-
Polymerase chain reaction
- PRL:
-
Prolactin hormone
- PROP1:
-
Homeobox protein prophet of PIT-1
- SOX2:
-
Sex-determining region Y-box 2
- TBP:
-
TATA box binding protein
- TSH:
-
Thyroid-stimulating hormone
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Acknowledgments
This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants, Nos. 21380184 to Y.K. and 24580435 to T.K. and by a research grant (A) to Y.K. from the Institute of Science and Technology, Meiji University. This study was supported by the Meiji University International Institute for BioResource Research (MUIIR).
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Mo Chen and Takako Kato contributed equally to this work.
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Chen, M., Kato, T., Higuchi, M. et al. Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor-positive cells compose the putative stem/progenitor cell niches in the marginal cell layer and parenchyma of the rat anterior pituitary. Cell Tissue Res 354, 823–836 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-013-1713-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-013-1713-8
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