Hidden face of the anterior pituitary

The traditional view holds that the anterior pituitary is an endocrine gland with a complex and heterogeneous distribution of cells throughout the parenchyma. Thus, a long-distance mode of intraorgan communication is not usually taken into account in our understanding of pituitary functioning. Howev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 2002-09, Vol.13 (7), p.304-309
Main Authors: Fauquier, Teddy, Lacampagne, Alain, Travo, Pierre, Bauer, Karl, Mollard, Patrice
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anatomy
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Calcium - metabolism
cell signaling
Electrophysiology
Fluorescent Antibody Technique
Fluorescent Dyes
folliculostellate cells
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormones and neuropeptides. Regulation
Humans
Hypothalamus. Hypophysis. Epiphysis. Urophysis
imaging
Ion Channels - physiology
Microtomy
pituitary functioning
Pituitary Gland, Anterior - cytology
Pituitary Gland, Anterior - physiology
Signal Transduction
Vertebrates: endocrinology
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Summary:The traditional view holds that the anterior pituitary is an endocrine gland with a complex and heterogeneous distribution of cells throughout the parenchyma. Thus, a long-distance mode of intraorgan communication is not usually taken into account in our understanding of pituitary functioning. However, recent in situ pituitary studies have begun to unveil a hitherto unknown route of large-scale information transfer within the pituitary. Agranular folliculostellate cells – the sixth type of pituitary cell initially discovered almost half a century ago – are the functional units of a dynamically active cell network wiring the whole gland. Because folliculostellate cells communicate with their endocrine neighbors, this opens the door to considering the pituitary as a cellular puzzle more ordered than was first thought. Hence, cell networking within the pituitary gland could have a privileged role in coordinating the activities of distant cells in both physiological and pathological conditions. Pituitary functioning probably requires a fine-tuning of cellular signals that are coded in time and space within the parenchyma. The network of folliculostellate cells might have a crucial role in such processes.
ISSN:1043-2760
1879-3061
DOI:10.1016/S1043-2760(02)00616-1