Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
Curr Top Dev Biol. 2013;106:1-47. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-416021-7.00001-8.
Many aspects of pituitary development have become better understood in the past two decades. The signaling pathways regulating pituitary growth and shape have emerged, and the balancing interactions between the pathways are now appreciated. Markers for multipotent progenitor cells are being identified, and signature transcription factors have been discovered for most hormone-producing cell types. We now realize that pulsatile hormone secretion involves a 3D integration of cellular networks. About a dozen genes are known to cause pituitary hypoplasia when mutated due to their essential roles in pituitary development. Similarly, a few genes are known that predispose to familial endocrine neoplasia, and several genes mutated in sporadic pituitary adenomas are documented. In the next decade, we anticipate gleaning a deeper appreciation of these processes at the molecular level, insight into the development of the hypophyseal portal blood system, and evolution of better therapeutics for congenital and acquired hormone deficiencies and for common craniopharyngiomas and pituitary adenomas.
在过去的二十年中，人们对垂体发育的许多方面有了更好的理解。调节垂体生长和形态的信号通路已经出现，并且现在人们已经认识到这些通路之间的平衡相互作用。多能祖细胞的标志物正在被鉴定，并且大多数产生激素的细胞类型的特征转录因子已经被发现。我们现在意识到，脉冲式激素分泌涉及细胞网络的 3D 整合。由于在垂体发育中具有重要作用，约有十几个基因在发生突变时会导致垂体发育不全。同样，已知有一些基因易导致家族性内分泌肿瘤，并且已经记录了一些在散发的垂体腺瘤中发生突变的基因。在未来十年，我们预计将在分子水平上更深入地了解这些过程，深入了解垂体门脉血液系统的发育，以及为先天性和获得性激素缺乏症以及常见的颅咽管瘤和垂体腺瘤开发更好的治疗方法。
