RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Pituitary stem cells produce paracrine WNT signals to control the expansion of their descendant progenitor cells
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.05.22.107045
DO 10.1101/2020.05.22.107045
A1 John Parkin Russell
A1 Xinhong Lim
A1 Alice Santambrogio
A1 Val Yianni
A1 Yasmine Kemkem
A1 Bruce Wang
A1 Matthew Fish
A1 Scott Haston
A1 Anaëlle Grabek
A1 Shirleen Hallang
A1 Emily Jane Lodge
A1 Amanda Louise Patist
A1 Andreas Schedl
A1 Patrice Mollard
A1 Roeland Nusse
A1 Cynthia Lilian Andoniadou
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/25/2020.05.22.107045.abstract
AB In response to physiological demand, the pituitary gland generates new hormone-secreting cells from committed progenitor cells throughout life. It remains unclear to what extent pituitary stem cells (PSCs), which uniquely express SOX2, contribute to pituitary growth and renewal. Moreover, neither the signals that drive proliferation nor their sources have been elucidated. We have used genetic approaches in the mouse, showing that the WNT pathway is essential for proliferation of all lineages in the gland. We reveal that SOX2+ stem cells are a key source of WNT ligands. By blocking secretion of WNTs from SOX2+ PSCs in vivo, we demonstrate that proliferation of neighbouring committed progenitor cells declines, demonstrating that progenitor multiplication depends on the paracrine WNT secretion from SOX2+ PSCs. Our results indicate that stem cells can hold additional roles in tissue expansion and homeostasis, acting as paracrine signalling centres to coordinate the proliferation of neighbouring cells.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.