Instituto de Investigaciones en Reproducción, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2010 Jul;22(7):758-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2010.02010.x. Epub 2010 Apr 23.
Apoptotic processes play an important role in the maintenance of cell numbers in the anterior pituitary gland during physiological endocrine events. In this review, we summarise the regulation of apoptosis of anterior pituitary cells, particularly lactotrophs, somatotrophs and gonadotrophs, and analyse the possible mechanisms involved in oestrogen-induced apoptosis in anterior pituitary cells. Oestrogens exert apoptotic actions in several cell types and act as modulators of pituitary cell renewal, sensitising cells to both mitogenic and apoptotic signals. Local synthesis of growth factors and cytokines induced by oestradiol as well as changes in phenotypic features that enhance the responsiveness of anterior pituitary cells to pro-apoptotic factors may account for cyclical apoptotic activity in anterior pituitary cells during the oestrous cycle. Considering that tissue homeostasis results from a balance between cell proliferation and death and that mechanisms involved in apoptosis are tightly regulated, defects in cell death processes could have a considerable physiopathological impact.
细胞凋亡过程在生理内分泌事件期间前叶垂体细胞数量的维持中起着重要作用。在这篇综述中，我们总结了前叶垂体细胞（特别是催乳素细胞、生长激素细胞和促性腺激素细胞）凋亡的调节，并分析了雌激素诱导前叶垂体细胞凋亡的可能机制。雌激素在多种细胞类型中发挥凋亡作用，并作为垂体细胞更新的调节剂，使细胞对有丝分裂和凋亡信号敏感。雌激素诱导的生长因子和细胞因子的局部合成以及增强前叶垂体细胞对促凋亡因子反应性的表型特征的改变可能是发情周期中前叶垂体细胞周期性凋亡活性的原因。考虑到组织内稳态是由细胞增殖和死亡之间的平衡产生的，并且凋亡过程中涉及的机制受到严格调控，细胞死亡过程中的缺陷可能会产生相当大的生理病理影响。
