Physiology Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Aug 23;12:719843. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.719843. eCollection 2021.
In vertebrates, the anterior pituitary plays a crucial role in regulating several essential physiological processes the secretion of at least seven peptide hormones by different endocrine cell types. Comparative and comprehensive knowledge of the spatial distribution of those endocrine cell types is required to better understand their physiological functions. Using medaka as a model and several combinations of multi-color fluorescence hybridization, we present the first 3D atlas revealing the gland-wide distribution of seven endocrine cell populations: lactotropes, thyrotropes, Lh and Fsh gonadotropes, somatotropes, and -expressing cells (corticotropes and melanotropes) in the anterior pituitary of a teleost fish. By combining hybridization and immunofluorescence techniques, we deciphered the location of corticotropes and melanotropes within the -expressing cell population. The 3D localization approach reveals sexual dimorphism of -, -, and -expressing cells in the adult medaka pituitary. Finally, we show the existence of bi-hormonal cells co-expressing -, - and - using single-cell transcriptomics analysis and hybridization. This study offers a solid basis for future comparative studies of the teleost pituitary and its functional plasticity.
在脊椎动物中，垂体前叶在调节几个重要的生理过程中起着至关重要的作用，这些过程涉及到至少七种不同内分泌细胞类型分泌的肽类激素。为了更好地理解这些细胞的生理功能，需要全面了解这些内分泌细胞类型的空间分布。本研究以青鳉为模型，采用多种多色荧光原位杂交组合方法，首次构建了 3D 图谱，揭示了鱼类垂体前叶七种内分泌细胞群体（催乳素细胞、促甲状腺素细胞、促黄体素和促卵泡素细胞、生长激素细胞以及表达细胞（促肾上腺皮质激素细胞和促黑色素细胞）的全腺分布。通过结合杂交和免疫荧光技术，我们在表达细胞群体中解析了促肾上腺皮质激素细胞和促黑色素细胞的位置。3D 定位方法揭示了成年青鳉垂体前叶中 -、- 和 - 表达细胞的性别二态性。最后，我们使用单细胞转录组学分析和杂交显示了存在同时表达 -、- 和 - 的双激素细胞。这项研究为未来对硬骨鱼垂体及其功能可塑性的比较研究提供了坚实的基础。
