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Molecular Studies of Pituitary Gland Differentiation

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Gene Expression and Cell-Cell Interactions in the Developing Nervous System

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 181))

Abstract

All hormone-synthesizing cells in the pituitary gland appear to differentiate from an initially homogeneous epithelium called Rathke’s pouch, which forms as an invagination of the oral ectoderm (Levy et al., 1980). Both the anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary are derived from this structure, which, separates from the oral ectoderm during early embryogenesis. The separation occurs after Rathke’s pouch has contacted a ventral outpocketing of the neural tube, the infundibulum, which later becomes the posterior pituitary. The anterior wall of Rathke’s pouch then proliferates rapidly and becomes the anterior pituitary, which contains at least six different cell types synthesizing different peptide hormones; cells producing proopiomelanocortin (POMC) account for about 5% of the cells in the adult anterior lobe. The posterior wall of Rathke’s pouch differentiates into the intermediate lobe which contains only cells synthesizing POMC; however, these POMC-containing cells differ from anterior lobe POMC cells in that they process this prohormone to different end-product hormones (see below).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    John E. Pintar

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  1. John E. Pintar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Jean M. Lauder

  2. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Philip G. Nelson

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Pintar, J.E. (1984). Molecular Studies of Pituitary Gland Differentiation. In: Lauder, J.M., Nelson, P.G. (eds) Gene Expression and Cell-Cell Interactions in the Developing Nervous System. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 181. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4868-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4868-9_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4870-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4868-9

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