Pituitary intermediate lobe in dog: two cell types and high bioactive adrenocorticotropin content

The pituitary intermediate lobe of most species is cytologically monotonous, but that of the dog is composed of two immunocytochemically distinct cell types. The predominant A cells are typical pars intermedia cells: they stain immunocytochemically for alpha-melanotropin and, more weakly, for adrenocorticotropin and beta-lipotropin. The B cells are like the corticotrophs of the anterior lobe: they stain intensely for adrenocorticotropin and beta-lipotropin but not for alpha-melanotropin. The B cells may account for the high concentration of bioactive adrenocorticotropin measured in the canine pars intermedia, and may explain why in dogs adenomas causing Cushing's disease through hypersecretion of adrenocorticotropin can arise from the intermediate as well as the anterior pituitary lobe.     

甲低大鼠垂体前叶内IFN-γ样免疫反应阳性物质的表达

应用免疫组织化学(SP)法结合H2O2-DAB黄色呈色法进行显色。IFN-γ样免疫反应阳性物质位于细胞的胞浆内,其阳性细胞只分布于垂体前叶,而后叶和中间部未见免疫反应阳性物质;对照组均未发现免疫反应阳性细胞。甲状腺素低下可以诱导大鼠垂体前叶内IFN-γ样免疫阳性物质的表达,提示甲状腺素低下会影响垂体前叶的内分泌功能。     

Biogenic amines and control of melanophore stimulating hormone release

Release of melanophore stimulating hormone (MSH) from the vertebrate pars intermedia is under inhibitory control by the hypothalamus. Removal of the rat pituitary or the neurointermediate lobe of the frog (Rana pipiens) to in vitro incubation medium results in rapid uninhibited release of MSH. This secretion is inhibited by norepinephrine, epinephrine, phenylephrine, and dopamine, and the inhibition is antagonized by alpha-adrenergic receptor blocking agents. Isoproterenol stimulation of MSH secretion from isolated glands is blocked by pro-pranolol, a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist. These results implicate dopaminergic or classical alpha-adrenergic receptors (or both) in inhibition of MSH release by catecholamines, and implicate beta-adrenergic receptors in stimulation of MSH release by the bioamines.     

Induction of the intermediate pituitary by stress: synthesis and release of a nonopioid form of beta-endorphin

beta-Endorphin in the intermediate lobe of the pituitary gland is posttranslationally modified to produce opioid inactive peptides. Whether these are metabolites or biologically relevant products has not been known. It was found that repeated stress induces increased biosynthesis and release of beta-endorphin-like substances from the intermediate lobe of rats and that opioid-inactive N-acetylated beta-endorphin-(1-31) is selectively made and liberated. The possible role of this nonopioid product and the selective release of peptide forms are discussed.     

Pituitary gastrins occur in corticotrophs and melanotrophs

The gut hormone gastrin was identified in pituitary cells containing adrenocorticotropic hormone and alpha-melanocyte--stimulating hormone by region-specific immunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassay. Smaller amounts of gastrin were found in nerve fibers of the neural lobe and pituitary stalk. Since adrenocorticotropic hormone--like peptides occur in antropyloric gastrin cells, these data indicate a considerable similarity in peptide composition of pituitary and gastrointestinal endocrine cells and reinforces questions of multiple hormone production.     

Dynorphin-A-(1-8) is contained within vasopressin neurosecretory vesicles in rat pituitary

Dynorphin-A-(1-8), an opioid peptide widely distributed in the rat central nervous system, is present in vasopressin-containing neurosecretory cells terminating in the neural lobe of the pituitary. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry reveals that dynorphin-A-(1-8) is contained within the same neurosecretory vesicles as vasopressin and vasopressin-associated neurophysin in the neural lobe of the rat. The results indicate that dynorphin may be released in the pituitary concomitantly with vasopressin during the antidiuretic response.     

Stimulation of gonadotropin release by a non-GnRH peptide sequence of the GnRH precursor

The human gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) precursor comprises the GnRH sequence followed by an extension of 59 amino acids. Basic amino acid residues in the carboxyl terminal extension may represent sites of processing to biologically active peptides. A synthetic peptide comprising the first 13 amino acids (H X Asp-Ala-Glu-Asn-Leu-Ile-Asp-Ser-Phe-Gln-Glu-Ile-Val X OH) of the 59-amino acid peptide was found to stimulate the release of gonadotropic hormones from human and baboon anterior pituitary cells in culture. The peptide did not affect thyrotropin or prolactin secretion. A GnRH antagonist did not inhibit gonadotropin stimulation by the peptide, and the peptide did not compete with GnRH for GnRH pituitary receptors, indicating that the action of the peptide is independent of the GnRH receptor. The GnRH precursor contains two distinct peptide sequences capable of stimulating gonadotropin release from human and baboon pituitary cells.     

鸡胚垂体生长激素细胞的发生及其变化

为研究鸡胚垂体中生长激素细胞的发生及其在发育过程中的变化 ,分别在鸡胚发育的第 3 5～ 2 0 5天采集鸡胚垂体 ,用免疫组织化学方法研究鸡胚垂体中生长激素细胞的发生和细胞形态、数量、在垂体中的分布特点和在发育过程中的变化。结果表明 ,鸡胚发育中期第 9 5天可观察到少量的生长激素阳性细胞散在分布于垂体后叶 ,细胞多排列成索状或团状 ,细胞之间边界不清 ,细胞核较大。在鸡胚发育的第 12 5天以后 ,生长激素细胞的细胞浆与细胞核比值逐渐变小 ,且均匀分布于腺垂体的后叶。生长激素细胞数在鸡胚发育的第 12 5天之后显著升高 (P <0 0 1) ,在鸡胚发育的第 16 5天 ,生长激素细胞占垂体细胞总数的 9 4 %。以上结果证明鸡胚垂体中生长激素细胞增殖和分化过程主要发生在发育的中期至出壳之前 ,而生长激素细胞的分泌功能在鸡胚发育的后期最为活跃。     

Carcinogenic substances from pituitary glands of cattle

Lipid extracts from the pituitary gland of cattle were prepared which, when injected into a pure strain of white mice, caused development of malignant tumors in 26.8 per cent of the 67 animals injected, which corresponds with the numerical results obtained by investigators working with human liver extracts. Evidently the carcinogenic power of these lipid extracts is low. The tumors developed chiefly in organs at a distance from the site of injection, exhibiting various histological types including carcinoma as well as sarcoma. The tumors developed at an earlier date after injection of extracts from the anterior lobe as compared with those developing after injection of the posterior lobe extracts, the average period of time necessary for their development being 9.3 months for the anterior lobe extracts and 14 months for posterior lobe extracts.     

Beta-adrenergic mechanism of insulin-induced adrenocorticotropin release from the anterior pituitary

Intraperitoneal administration of insulin to control rats and to rats with pituitary stalk transections or with lesions of the median eminence resulted in increased plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) levels. The insulin-induced stimulation of ACTH release was blocked in both the control and lesioned animals by prior treatment with either the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol or the glucocorticoid analog dexamethasone. The direct application of insulin to primary cultures of the anterior pituitary did not evoke ACTH release or affect the maximal ability of corticotropin-releasing factor or epinephrine to stimulate ACTH secretion. The results suggest that insulin stimulates ACTH release by a mechanism in which catecholamines of peripheral origin act directly on the anterior pituitary.     

Endothelin stimulation of cytosolic calcium and gonadotropin secretion in anterior pituitary cells

The presence of endothelin, a vasoconstrictor peptide, in the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary suggests that it also regulates neural and other nonvascular target cells. In pituitary gonadotrophs, low doses of endothelin evoked oscillations in the intracellular calcium concentration, and high doses induced a biphasic calcium response. Mobilization of intracellular calcium predominated during the spike phase of the calcium response to endothelin, whereas calcium entry through dihydropyridine-sensitive channels contributed to both the spike and plateau phases of the calcium response. Endothelin was a potent as hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in stimulation of gonadotropin release in perifused pituitary cells. Endothelin bound specifically to pituitary cells with a dissociation constant of 70 picomolar, and induced rapid formation of inositol trisphosphate and diacyglycerol. Although intracellular calcium concentration and gonadotropin secretory responses to endothelin were independent to the GnRH receptor, endothelin and GnRH appeared to have a common signal transduction mechanism. These observations suggest that endothelin can act as a neuropeptide to regulate anterior pituitary function.     

Transplantation of the cockroach circadian pacemaker

Surgical removal of the optic lobes of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae followed by transplantation of the optic lobes from another individual led to a restoration of the circadian activity rhythm in 4 to 8 weeks. The free-running period of the restored rhythm was determined by the period of the donor rhythm before surgery. The results suggest that the transplanted optic lobe contains a circadian clock that regenerates those neural connections with the host brain that are necessary to drive the circadian rhythm of activity.     

Pituitary gonadotrophs: nuclear concentration of radioactivity after injection of ( 3 H)testosterone

Gonadotrophs and castration cells in the male rat pituitary showed nuclear concentration of radioactivity 1 hour after [1,2,6,7-(3)H]testosterone injection. Thyrotrophs and acidophils did not retain radioactivity; also the cells of the intermediate and posterior lobes did not accumulate radioactivity. The autoradiographic results suggest a direct and selective action of androgen on gonadotrophs, which contrasts with the action of estradiol which was shown earlier to bind not only to basophils but to acidophils and chromophobes as well.     

Release of multiple hormones by a direct action of interleukin-1 on pituitary cells

Exposure to bacterial endotoxins has long been known to stimulate the release of anterior pituitary hormones; administration of endotoxin was at one time a common clinical test of anterior pituitary function. Endotoxin is a potent stimulus for production of the endogenous pyrogenic protein, interleukin-1 (IL-1), by macrophages and monocytes. The possibility that IL-1 has a direct effect on the secretion of hormones by rat pituitary cells in a monolayer culture was investigated. Recombinant human IL-1 beta stimulated the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone, luteinizing hormone, growth hormone, and thyroid-stimulating hormone. Increased hormone secretion into culture supernatants was found with IL-1 concentrations ranging from 10(-9) M to 10(-12) M. Prolactin secretion by the monolayers was inhibited by similar doses. These concentrations of IL-1 are within the range reported for IL-1 in serum, suggesting that IL-1 generated peripherally by mononuclear immune cells may act directly on anterior pituitary cells to modulate hormone secretion in vivo. Incubation of IL-1 solutions with antibody to IL-1 neutralized these actions. These pituitary effects of IL-1 suggest that this monokine may be an important regulator of the metabolic adaptations to infectious stressors.     

Corticotropin-releasing activity of monokines

Hepatocyte-stimulating factor and interleukin-1 are proteins produced by monocytes in response to inflammatory challenge. Neither of these monokines had direct effects on steroid production by cultured adrenocortical cells. Both monokines stimulated pituitary cells (AtT-20) to release adrenocorticotropic hormone; interleukin-1 was equipotent with a combination of corticotropin-releasing factor and arginine vasopressin, and hepatocyte-stimulating factor was at least three times as effective. The synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, inhibited production of hepatocyte-stimulating factor by cultured monocytes. These results indicate an axis between monocytes and pituitary and adrenocortical cells which may play a role in regulating host defense.     

Identification of a thyroid hormone receptor that is pituitary-specific

Three cellular homologs of the v-erbA oncogene were previously identified in the rat; two of them encode high affinity receptors for the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3). A rat complementary DNA clone encoding a T3 receptor form of the ErbA protein, called r-ErbA beta-2, was isolated. The r-ErbA beta-2 protein differs at its amino terminus from the previously described rat protein encoded by c-erbA beta and referred to as r-ErbA beta-1. Unlike the other members of the c-erbA proto-oncogene family, which have a wide tissue distribution, r-erbA beta-2 appears to be expressed only in the anterior pituitary gland. In addition, thyroid hormone downregulates r-erbA beta-2 messenger RNA but not r-erbA beta-1 messenger RNA in a pituitary tumor-derived cell line. The presence of a pituitary-specific form of the thyroid hormone receptor that may be selectively regulated by thyroid hormone could be important for the differential regulation of gene expression by T3 in the pituitary gland.     

Protein-synthesizing activity of the anucleate polar lobe of the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta

Polar lobes of eggs of the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta, detached at the "trefoil" stage of the first cleavage, are capable of incorporating labeled amino acid into protein. The rate of incorporation per unit volume is about half that of the whole egg. The ability to incorporate at a similar rate persists for at least 24 hours after isolation. The sum of the incorporation of isolated lobes and lobeless fragments approximates that of the whole egg. The results extend to this material (the anucleate polar lobe) evidence for long-lived messenger RNA. They suggest also that the demonstrated morphogenetic influence of the lobe, which is exerted primarily during cleavage, may be correlated with its ability to synthesize protein.     

鸡胚胎腺垂体促甲状腺激素细胞的发生及其变化

应用免疫组织化学方法,对第3.5～20.5 d鸡胚腺垂体促甲状腺激素亚单位(TSH撸┫赴姆⑸⑹亢托翁植急浠媛山辛搜芯俊=峁允荆杭ε叻⒂牡?0.5 d,有少量TSH呦赴植加谙俅固迩耙叮赴派常伲舜螅患ε叻⒂牡?4.5 d以后,TSH呦赴灾黾樱≒ < 0.05),细胞体积增大,胞浆增多,细胞着色浓,分布于腺垂体前叶边缘区,少量分布于后叶背侧。研究结果证明,鸡胚腺垂体TSH呦赴⑸谂咛シ⒂闹衅冢幌赴脑鲋撤只谭⑸诩ε叻⒂闹泻笃冢籘SH的合成和分泌功能在胚胎发育的后期最旺盛。TSH呦赴植加谙俅固迩耙逗秃笠侗巢唷?