RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Rapid changes in anterior pituitary cell phenotypes in male and female mice after acute cold stress
A1 Senovilla González, Laura
A1 Núñez Llorente, Lucía
A1 Villalobos Jorge, Carlos
A1 García-Sancho Martín, Francisco Javier
K1 Pituitary Cells
K1 Células pituirarias
K1 Phenotyes
K1 Fenotipos
K1 Mice
K1 Ratones
K1 Cold stress
K1 Estrés por frío
AB The anterior pituitary (AP) is made of five different cell types. The relative abundance and phenotype of AP cells may change in different physiological situations as an expression of pituitary plasticity. Here, we analyze in detail the phenotype of mouse corticotropes and the effects of acute cold stress on AP cell populations. The hormone content and the expression of hypothalamic-releasing hormone (HRH) receptors in all the five AP cell types were studied in the male and female mice at rest and after a 30-min cold stress. Expression of HRH receptors was evidenced by imaging the single-cell cytosolic Ca2+ responses in fura-2-loaded cells. Hormone contents were studied by multiple, simultaneous immunofluorescence of all the five hormones. Corticotropes displayed a striking sexual dimorphism, even in the resting condition. Male corticotropes showed the orthodox phenotype. They were monohormonal, storing only ACTH, and monoreceptorial, responding only to CRH. In contrast, female corticotropes were made of about equal parts of orthodox cells and multifunctional cells, which co-stored additional AP hormones and expressed additional HRH receptors. Cold stress did not modify the number of ACTH containing cells, but, according to immunostaining, it increased the relative abundance of other AP cell types at the expense of the pool of cells storing no hormones. Cold stress also modified the response to CRH and other HRHs. Most of these phenotypical changes presented a strong sexual dimorphism. These results indicate that pituitary plasticity is even larger than previously thought.
PB Oxford University Press
SN 1945-7170
YR 2008
FD 2008
LK http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/45070
UL http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/45070
LA eng
NO Endocrinology, 2008, vol. 149, n. 5. p. 2159–2167
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 25-abr-2024