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Pituitary folliculo-stellate-like cells stimulate somatotropic pituitary tumor growth in nude mice

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Abstract

A new cell line (TtT/GF) established from a murine pituitary thyrotropic tumor having characteristics similar to those of pituitary folliculo-stellate cell (FS cell) was implanted into nude mice together with cells from a rat pituitary somatotrophic tumor cell line (MtT/S) to determine whether the former enhances pituitary tumor growth. For as long as 2-3 mo after implantation, MtT/S cells implanted either alone or together with fibroblasts formed either no tumors or only very small tumors in the nude mice. In contrast all of the nude mice that had received MtT/S cells implanted together with TtT/GF cells developed large tumors. Furthermore, the mice bearing the MtT/S and TtT/GF implants showed a significantly higher body weight and serum growth hormone level than those bearing only MtT/S cells or a combination of MtT/S cells and fibroblasts. The TtT/GF cell line itself had no tumorigenicity during the experimental period. Therefore, the TtT/GF cell line as a model of FS cells enhanced pituitary endocrine cell tumor formation. Additionally, immunocytochemistry showed that TtT/GF cells positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or S-100 protein were present in the parenchymatous tissue elements or connective tissue surrounding the tumor nests. In the parenchymatous tissue, the TtT/GF cells exhibited a stellate appearance and surrounded neighboring tumor cells with their long cell processes. These results suggest that TtT/GF cells can serve as a model for pituitary FS cells, and are capable of stimulating pituitary tumor growth either by modifying the microenvironment or producing growth factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Morphology, Institute of Endocrinology, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan

    Chiaki Koyama

  2. Hormone Assay Center, Institute of Endocrinology, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan

    Katsumi Wakabayashi

  3. Discovery Research Division-I, Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd., Tsukuba, Ibaragi, Japan

    Hirokazu Matsumoto

  4. Research Institute for Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Akihiro Ito

  5. Department of Biology, Texas Christian University, TX, Fort Worth

    Ernest F. Couch

  6. Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Regulation Biology, Faculty of Science, Saitama University, Urawa, Japan

    Takafumi Sakai & Kinji Inoue

Authors
  1. Chiaki Koyama
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  2. Hirokazu Matsumoto
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  3. Takafumi Sakai
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  4. Katsumi Wakabayashi
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  5. Akihiro Ito
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  6. Ernest F. Couch
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  7. Kinji Inoue
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Koyama, C., Matsumoto, H., Sakai, T. et al. Pituitary folliculo-stellate-like cells stimulate somatotropic pituitary tumor growth in nude mice. Endocr Pathol 6, 67–75 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02914990

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