Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Dec 1;79(12):612. doi: 10.1007/s00018-022-04612-8.
Stem cells in the anterior pituitary gland can give rise to all resident endocrine cells and are integral components for the appropriate development and subsequent maintenance of the organ. Located in discreet niches within the gland, stem cells are involved in bi-directional signalling with their surrounding neighbours, interactions which underpin pituitary gland homeostasis and response to organ challenge or physiological demand. In this review we highlight core signalling pathways that steer pituitary progenitors towards specific endocrine fate decisions throughout development. We further elaborate on those which are conserved in the stem cell niche postnatally, including WNT, YAP/TAZ and Notch signalling. Furthermore, we have collated a directory of single cell RNA sequencing studies carried out on pituitaries across multiple organisms, which have the potential to provide a vast database to study stem cell niche components in an unbiased manner. Reviewing published data, we highlight that stem cells are one of the main signalling hubs within the anterior pituitary. In future, coupling single cell sequencing approaches with genetic manipulation tools in vivo, will enable elucidation of how previously understudied signalling pathways function within the anterior pituitary stem cell niche.
垂体前叶中的干细胞可以产生所有常驻内分泌细胞，是适当发育和随后维持器官的重要组成部分。干细胞位于腺体的离散巢内，与周围的邻居进行双向信号传递，这些相互作用是垂体激素稳态和对器官挑战或生理需求的反应的基础。在这篇综述中，我们强调了指导垂体祖细胞在整个发育过程中向特定内分泌命运决定的核心信号通路。我们进一步阐述了那些在产后干细胞巢中保守的信号通路，包括 WNT、YAP/TAZ 和 Notch 信号通路。此外，我们还整理了一份在多个生物体的垂体上进行的单细胞 RNA 测序研究目录，这些研究有潜力提供一个庞大的数据库，以无偏倚的方式研究干细胞巢的组成部分。通过回顾已发表的数据，我们强调干细胞是垂体前叶中的主要信号枢纽之一。未来，将单细胞测序方法与体内遗传操作工具相结合，将能够阐明以前研究较少的信号通路在垂体前叶干细胞巢内的功能。
