Notch-Dependent Pituitary SOX2(+) Stem Cells Exhibit a Timed Functional Extinction in Regulation of the Postnatal Gland

Overview

Journal Stem Cell Reports

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2015 Dec 15

PMID 26651607

Citations 29

Authors

Xiaoyan Zhu

Jessica Tollkuhn

Havilah Taylor

Michael G Rosenfeld

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Although SOX2(+) stem cells are present in the postnatal pituitary gland, how they are regulated molecularly and whether they are required for pituitary functions remain unresolved questions. Using a conditional knockout animal model, here we demonstrate that ablation of the canonical Notch signaling in the embryonic pituitary gland leads to progressive depletion of the SOX2(+) stem cells and hypoplastic gland. Furthermore, we show that the SOX2(+) stem cells initially play a significant role in contributing to postnatal pituitary gland expansion by self-renewal and differentiating into distinct lineages in the immediate postnatal period. However, we found that within several weeks postpartum, the SOX2(+) stem cells switch to an essentially dormant state and are no longer required for homeostasis/tissue adaptation. Our results present a dynamic tissue homeostatic model in which stem cells provide an initial contribution to the growth of the neonatal pituitary gland, whereas the mature gland can be maintained in a stem cell-independent fashion.

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