Hidden face of the anterior pituitary

• Published in: Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 13; no. 7; pp. 304 - 309
• Main Authors: Fauquier, Teddy, Lacampagne, Alain, Travo, Pierre, Bauer, Karl, Mollard, Patrice
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2002; Elsevier
• 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; folliculostellate cells; Techniques & Methods; anatomy; cell signaling; Neurobiology; Cell biology; Molecular Medicine; pituitary functioning; imaging; Endocrinology; Adenohypophysis; Parenchyma; Endocrine gland; Review
• ISSN: 1043-2760; 1879-3061
• DOI: 10.1016/S1043-2760(02)00616-1

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.