Studies of performance for pituitary organogenesis and maintenance of function after tissue maturation

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26292166
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Integrative animal science
• Research Institution: Meiji University
• Principal Investigator: Kato Yukio 明治大学, 農学部, 専任教授 (30114177)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KATO TAKAKO 明治大学, 研究・知財戦略機構, 研究推進員 (90445859)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 下垂体 / 幹細胞 / 生殖 / 分化 / 組織形成 / 転写因子 / 神経堤 / 血管形成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

he pituitary gland is a major endocrine organ for maintenance of vital functions. This project focuses on the characteristics of pituitary stem/progenitor cells and the roles on pituitary organogenesis and maintenance. Our studies have demonstrated following important results: 1) characteristic localizations of several specific factors, 2) isolation of one of two types of stem/progenitor cell niches, 3) demonstration of characteristic differentiation into hormone-producing and non-hormone-producing cells, 4) novel isolation of stem/progenitor cells by using anti-CD9 antibody and differentiation into vascular endothelial cell-like cells, 5) invasion of two types of the neural crest lineage cells into the anterior and posterior lobes of the pituitary gland, respectively.

Free Research Field

内分泌学