Immunohistochemical localization of anterior pituitary hormones in S-100 protein-positive cells in the rat pituitary gland |
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Authors: | Motoshi Kikuchi Megumi Yatabe Yukiko Tando Takashi Yashiro |
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Institution: | Laboratory of Education, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, Shimotsuke-shi, Tochigi, Japan. kikuchim@jichi.ac.jp |
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Abstract: | In the anterior and intermediate lobes of the rat pituitary gland, non-hormone-producing cells that express S-100 protein coexist with various types of hormone-producing cells and are believed to function as phagocytes, supporting and paracrine-controlling cells of hormone-producing cells and stem cells, among other functions; however, their cytological characteristics are not yet fully understood. Using a transgenic rat that expresses green fluorescent protein under the promoter of the S100β protein gene, we immunohistochemically detected expression of the luteinizing hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, growth hormone and proopiomelanocortin by S-100 protein-positive cells located between clusters of hormone-producing cells in the intermediate lobe. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that S-100 protein-positive cells are capable of differentiating into hormone-producing cells in the adult rat pituitary gland. |
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