Notch signaling in postnatal pituitary expansion: proliferation, progenitors, and cell specification.

ABSTRACT: Mutations in PROP1 account for up to half of the cases of combined pituitary hormone deficiency that result from known causes. Despite this, few signaling molecules and pathways that influence PROP1 expression have been identified. Notch signaling has been linked to Prop1 expression, but the developmental periods during which Notch signaling influences Prop1 and overall pituitary development remain unclear. To test the requirement for Notch signaling in establishing the normal pituitary hormone milieu, we generated mice with early embryonic conditional loss of Notch2 (conditional knockout) and examined the consequences of chemical Notch inhibition during early postnatal pituitary maturation. We show that loss of Notch2 has little influence on early embryonic pituitary proliferation but is

SUBMITTER: Nantie LB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4004773 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature