TISSUE CULTURE STUDIES ON HUMAN PITUITARY TUMOURS: RADIOIMMUNOASSAYABLE ANTERIOR PITUITARY HORMONES IN THE CULTURE MEDIUM

1978 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loren G. Lipson ◽  
Inese Z. Beitins ◽  
Paul D. Kornblith ◽  
Janet W. Mc Arthur ◽  
Henry G. Friesen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Culture ◽  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Hormone Release ◽  
Pituitary Tumours ◽  
Human Pituitary ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Hormones

ABSTRACT A tissue culture study was undertaken to determine if human non-functioning pituitary tumours secrete polypeptide anterior pituitary hormones in vitro and to study the spectrum of hormone release by functioning pituitary neoplasms. Fragments from 48 human pituitary tumours (from patients - 2 with Cushing's disease, 1 with Nelson's syndrome, 5 with amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea, 10 with acromegaly and 30 with non-functioning pituitary tumours) and three normal human anterior pituitary glands (controls) were placed in tissue culture immediately after surgery. The in vitro release of human growth hormone (HGH), prolactin (Prl), thyrotrophin (TSH), adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured by radioimmunoassays at the end of one week in culture. Clinical and pathological data were compared to hormone release patterns. In the culture media from control pituitaries the concentrations of the six hormones tested were 100 to 10 000 times greater than in peripheral blood. The medium surrounding the fragments from functioning pituitary tumours contained the following: a) Acromegaly - high levels of HGH and variable concentrations of the other hormones. b) Cushing's disease - ACTH and Prl predominantly. c) Amenorrhcea-galactorrhoea syndrome - prolactin in 4 out of 5 patients, all six polypeptides in one patient. In the media from the 30 patients diagnosed as having non-functioning pituitary tumours, 60 % of the samples contained at least one hormone at a concentration similar to that of the controls and 100 % of the samples contained detectable quantities of at least one hormone.

TISSUE CULTURE STUDIES ON HUMAN PITUITARY TUMOURS: LONG TERM RELEASE OF ANTERIOR PITUITARY HORMONES INTO THE CULTURE MEDIUM

1979 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loren G. Lipson ◽  
Inese Z. Beitins ◽  
Paul L. Kornblith ◽  
Janet W. McArthur ◽  
Henry G. Friesen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Culture ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Hormone Release ◽  
Pituitary Tumours ◽  
Human Pituitary ◽  
The Media ◽  
Human Anterior Pituitary

ABSTRACT A study was undertaken to determine the length of time that human pituitary tumours are capable of releasing anterior pituitary polypeptide hormones in vitro under basal conditions and to study the spectrum of hormone release by functioning and "non-functioning" pituitary neoplasms. Fragments from the pituitary tumours of 10 patients in the following categories: 1 Cushing's disease, 2 with amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea, 3 with acromegaly, and 4 with "non-functioning" pituitary tumours and from 2 normal human anterior pituitary glands were placed in primary culture immediately after surgery. The in vitro release of human growth hormone (hGH), prolactin (Prl), thyrotrophin (TSH), adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) was measured by specific radioimmunoassays at the end of each week in culture. Hormone release was surveyed from 6 weeks to 6 months depending upon the survival of the culture. Hormone release patterns were compared with clinical and pathological data. In the initial week of the study, all 6 anterior pituitary polypeptides were detected in the media from the 2 control pituitaries and from 4 of the tumours (1 amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea and 3 acromegaly) in concentrations up to 100 ng/ml of medium while 5 of the 6 hormones were readily detectable in the media from 2 additional tumour samples (Cushing's disease and 1 "non-functioning" pituitary tumour). The media of the remaining 4 tumours contained at least 3 of the 6 hormones (1 amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea and 3 "non-functioning" pituitary tumours). After 6 months in culture, the 6 hormones were readily detectable in at least 1 of the 5 surviving cultures and hGH (up to 800 ng/ml) and LH were each detectable in the media from 2 cultures. Although most of the hormone concentrations in the media decreased with length of time in culture, there were 2 exceptions. First, in the media from 5 of the 12 cultures from both controls and tumours, Prl concentrations increased after 50 to 80 days culture. This increase usually lasted for several weeks before Prl levels again began to decline. The second unusual finding occurred in a tumour from a patient with acromegaly in the media of which hGH levels rose from 60 ng/ml to 800 ng/ml between days 125 and 174. These findings of prolonged hormone release in vitro give promise of future usefulness of tissue culture methods for study of polypeptide hormone releasing mechanisms and long-term production of human anterior pituitary hormones for use in research and possible therapy.

Anterior Pituitary Hormones in Plasma and Pituitaries from Patients with Cushing's Disease*

1980 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1048-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOSHIHIRO SUDA ◽  
HIROSHI DEMURA ◽  
REIKO DEMURA ◽  
KAZUKO JIBIKI ◽  
FUMIKO TAZAWA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Hormones

Vasopressin as a neuroendocrine regulator of anterior pituitary hormone secretion

1993 ◽  
Vol 129 (6) ◽  
pp. 489-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kjær
Keyword(s):  
Arginine Vasopressin ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Hormone Secretion ◽  
Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Pituitary Hormone ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Hormone

Secretion of the anterior pituitary hormones adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), β-endorphin and prolactin (PRL) is complex and involves a variety of factors. This review focuses on the involvement of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in neuroendocrine regulation of these anterior pituitary hormones with special reference to receptor involvement, mode of action and origin of AVP. Arginine-vasopressin may act via at least two types of receptors: V1− and V2−receptors, where the pituitary V1−receptor is designated V1b. The mode of action of AVP may be mediating, i.e. anterior pituitary hormone secretion is transmitted via release of AVP, or the mode of action may be permissive, i.e. the presence of AVP at a low and constant level is required for anterior pituitary hormones to be stimulated. Under in vivo conditions, the AVP-induced release of ACTH and β-endorphin is mainly mediated via activation of hypothalamic V1− receptors, which subsequently leads to the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone. Under in vitro conditions, the AVP-stimulated release of ACTH and β-endorphin is mediated via pituitary V1b− receptors. The mode of action of AVP in the ACTH and β-endorphin response to stress and to histamine, which is involved in stress-induced secretion of anterior pituitary hormones, is mediating (utilizing V1− receptors) as well as permissive (utilizing mainly V1− but also V2−receptors). The AVP-induced release of PRL under in vivo conditions is conveyed mainly via activation of V1−receptors but V2−receptors and probably additional receptor(s) may also play a role. In stress- and histamine induced PRL secretion the role of AVP is both mediating (utilizing V1 −receptors) and permissive (utilizing both V1− and V2− receptors). Arginine-vasopressin may be a candidate for the PRL-releasing factor recently identified in the posterior pituitary gland. Arginine-vasopressin of both magno- and parvocellular origin may be involved in the regulation of anterior pituitary hormone secretion and may reach the corticotrophs and the lactotrophs via three main routes: the peripheral circulation, the long pituitary portal vessels or the short pituitary portal vessels.

Multiple pituitary hormone gradients from inferior petrosal sinus sampling in Cushing's disease

1988 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Crock ◽  
Richard G. Pestell ◽  
Anthony J. Calenti ◽  
Eric J. Gilford ◽  
J. Keith Henderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Pituitary Hormones ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Pituitary Hormone ◽  
Inferior Petrosal Sinus ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling ◽  
Left And Right

Abstract. Pre-operative bilateral simultaneous inferior petrosal sinus sampling with assessment of ACTH levels in the left and right sinuses and the periphery was performed in 9 patients with pituitary dependent Cushing's disease who were subsequently found at surgery to have basophil microadenomata. The novel observation of this study was the pattern of secretion of other pituitary hormones so that significant inter-sinus gradients ≥ 1.4:1 were seen for β-endorphin (2.8 ± 1.3, mean ± sem), PRL (4.2 ± 1.3) and GH (6.9 ± 2.4) as well as for ACTH (5.1 ± 1.1). There was no inter-sinus gradient for LH, FSH and TSH. In these 9 patients with adenomata, the correlations between the inter-sinus gradients for ACTH and β-endorphin were r = 0.95 (P <0.01), ACTH and PRL r = 0.90 (P < 0.01) and for ACTH and GH r = 0.89 (P <0.05). This close association between the gradients for ACTH and other anterior pituitary hormones could be due either to cosecretion of β-endorphin, PRL and GH by the ACTH-producing pituitary adenomata or to a paracrine effect of β-endorphin from the tumours on adjacent pituitary tissue. By reflecting the central pituitary hormone milieu, petrosal sinus sampling can give information about pituitary function unobtainable from peripheral hormone levels.

scholarly journals Two Distinctive POMC Promoters Modify Gene Expression in Cushing’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takako Araki ◽  
Yukiko Tone ◽  
Masaaki Yamamoto ◽  
Hiraku Kameda ◽  
Anat Ben-Shlomo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Methylation Status ◽  
Regulatory Region ◽  
Pituitary Tumors ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Human Pituitary ◽  
Ectopic Acth ◽  
Pomc Gene ◽  
Acth Secreting

Abstract Context Mechanisms underlying pituitary corticotroph adenoma ACTH production are poorly understood, yet circulating ACTH levels closely correlate with adenoma phenotype and clinical outcomes. Objective We characterized the 5’ ends of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene transcripts, which encode the precursor polypeptide for ACTH, in order to investigate additional regulatory mechanisms of POMC gene transcription and ACTH production. Methods We examined 11 normal human pituitary tissues, 32 ACTH-secreting tumors, as well as 6 silent pituitary corticotroph adenomas (SCA) that immunostain for but do not secrete ACTH. Results We identified a novel regulatory region located near the intron2/exon3 junction in the human POMC gene, which functions as a second promoter and an enhancer. In vitro experiments demonstrated that CREB binds the second promoter and regulates its transcriptional activity. The second promoter is highly methylated in SCA, partially demethylated in normal pituitary tissue, and highly demethylated in pituitary and ectopic ACTH-secreting tumors. In contrast, the first promoter is demethylated in all POMC-expressing cells and is highly demethylated only in pituitary ACTH-secreting tumors harboring the USP8 mutation. Demethylation patterns of the second promoter correlate with clinical phenotypes of Cushing’s disease. Conclusion We identified a second POMC promoter regulated by methylation status in ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors. Our findings open new avenues for elucidating subcellular regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and suggest the second POMC promoter may be a target for therapeutic intervention to suppress excess ACTH production.

STUDIES ON THE GROWTH AND HORMONE PRODUCTION OF RAT HYPOPHYSIS IN TISSUE CULTURE

1963 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stig Kullander
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Culture ◽  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Anterior Lobe ◽  
Anterior Pituitary Gland ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pituitary Tumours ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Other Hand

ABSTRACT The anterior lobe of the pituitary gland of the rat was studied in tissue culture. Oestrone, progesterone and androsterone did not have any effect on the growth. On the other hand, oestrogen-induced pituitary tumours in tissue culture grew more quickly in medium containing oestrone or androsterone. The anterior pituitary gland produced prolactin in vitro.

α-Amidated peptides derived from pro-opiomelanocortin in human pituitary tumours

1988 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fenger ◽  
A. H. Johnsen
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Molecular Forms ◽  
Low Molecular Weight ◽  
Gel Chromatography ◽  
Pituitary Tumours ◽  
Nelson’S Syndrome ◽  
Human Pituitary ◽  
Nelson's Syndrome

ABSTRACT Human pituitary tumours, obtained at surgery for Cushing's disease and Nelson's syndrome, were extracted and the content and molecular forms of proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides determined by radioimmunoassay, gel chromatography, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and sequence analysis. In the tumours from patients with Cushing's disease the mean concentrations of amidated peptides relative to the total amount of POMC were as follows: α-MSH, 1·7%; amidated γ-MSH (γ1-MSH), 8·5% and the peptide linking γ-MSH and ACTH in the precursor (hinge peptide or joining peptide) in its amidated form (HP-N), 17·1%. The same relative concentrations in the tumours from patients with Nelson's syndrome were 8·5% (α-MSH), 7·5% (γ1-MSH) and 12·2% (HP-N). More than 95% of the ACTH(1–39) immunoreactivity eluted as synthetic ACTH(1–39) by gel chromatography and HPLC. The remaining ACTH(1–39) immunoreactivity eluted as partly glycosylated high molecular weight forms. All the α-MSH and its glycine-extended precursor ACTH(1–14) were of low molecular weight, mainly non- or mono-acetylated forms, but significant amounts of diacetylated analogues were also present. γ1-MSH and γ2-MSH immunoreactivities eluted as high molecular weight forms and were partly glycosylated. No low molecular weight forms of γ1-MSH or γ2-MSH could be detected in the pituitary tumours. Amidated hinge peptide was mainly of the 30 amino acid form. In conclusion, all the molecular forms of the amidated peptides detected in tumours from patients with Cushing's disease and Nelson's syndrome were similar to the molecular forms found in the normal human pituitary. The main difference between the tumours and the normal pituitary was the greater amount of peptides produced, particularly α-MSH and γ1-MSH. J. Endocr. (1988) 118, 329–338

Antisense oligonucleotide—induced inhibition of adrenocorticotropic hormone release from cultured human corticotrophs

1999 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Frankel ◽  
Sharon L. Longo ◽  
Gerard S. Rodziewicz ◽  
Charles J. Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Cushing’S Disease ◽  
Antisense Oligonucleotide ◽  
Antisense Oligonucleotides ◽  
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ◽  
Cushing's Disease ◽  
Hormone Release ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Novel Treatments ◽  
Fine Print

Object. Available therapies for Cushing's disease are often inadequate or involve the risk of significant morbidity. Accordingly, the need arises for the development of novel treatments, especially for cases caused by corticotroph hyperplasia, a condition difficult to treat using standard therapies. In this study, the authors investigated the use of phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides as a potential treatment for Cushing's disease.Methods. Corticotrophs, obtained from a patient with Cushing's disease in whom pathological findings showed multifocal areas of corticotroph adenoma and hyperplasia, were grown in tissue culture. By assessing cell viability and using immunoradiometric assay techniques, it was determined that these cells grew autonomously and secreted adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in vitro. A fully phosphorothioated antisense oligonucleotide was constructed to be complementary to the first 25 bp of the region coding for ACTH in exon 3 of the proopiomelanocortin precursor. After incubation of the corticotrophs with liposome-coated phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides, a greater than 90% decrease in ACTH release was noted on Days 3 and 6, compared with nonsense-treated controls (p < 0.05).Conclusions. Antisense oligonucleotides may prove to be a useful adjunct in treating Cushing's disease by targeting one of its fundamental problems, ACTH hypersecretion.

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