Horiguchi Kotaro, Tsukada Takehiro, Yoshida Saishu, Fujiwara Ken, Nakakura Takashi, Azuma Morio, Shindo Ayano, Hasegawa Rumi, Takigami Shu
Laboratory of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Department of Health Sciences, Kyorin University, Tokyo 181-8612, Japan.
Department of Biomolecular Science, Faculty of Science, Toho University, Chiba 274-8510, Japan.
J Reprod Dev. 2024 Oct 1;70(5):343-347. doi: 10.1262/jrd.2024-033. Epub 2024 Aug 11.
The adenohypophysis is composed of the anterior and intermediate lobes (AL and IL, respectively), and secretes hormones that play an important role in reproduction. CD9- and SOX2-double (CD9/SOX2) positive cells located in the marginal cell layer (MCL) facing the Rathke's cleft in the AL and IL form the primary stem cell niche in the adult adenohypophysis of rats. In this study, we successfully obtained 3-dimensional (3D) cell aggregates that closely resembled the primary niche of MCL in vivo. After incubation in a Matrigel containing several growth factors, approximately 20% of the cells in the CD9/SOX2-positive cell aggregates were differentiated into hormone-producing cells. The cell aggregates generated in this study may provide insight into the regulation of the pituitary stem/progenitor cell niche and the turnover of hormone-producing cells.
腺垂体由前叶和中间叶（分别为AL和IL）组成，分泌在生殖中起重要作用的激素。位于腺垂体前叶和中间叶面对拉特克裂的边缘细胞层（MCL）中的CD9和SOX2双阳性（CD9/SOX2）细胞构成了成年大鼠腺垂体中的主要干细胞龛。在本研究中，我们成功获得了与体内MCL主要龛非常相似的三维（3D）细胞聚集体。在含有多种生长因子的基质胶中孵育后，CD9/SOX2阳性细胞聚集体中约20%的细胞分化为激素产生细胞。本研究中产生的细胞聚集体可能为垂体干/祖细胞龛的调节以及激素产生细胞的更新提供见解。
