Regulation of LH/FSH expression by secretoglobin 3A2 in the mouse pituitary gland

• Published in: Cell and tissue research Vol. 356; no. 1; pp. 253 - 260
• Main Authors: Miyano, Yuki, Tahara, Shigeyuki, Sakata, Ichiro, Sakai, Takafumi, Abe, Hiroyuki, Kimura, Shioko, Kurotani, Reiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.04.2014; Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adults; Analysis; Animals; Animals, Newborn; anterior pituitary; Binding proteins; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; cell culture; Cells; Cells, Cultured; Follicle Stimulating Hormone - metabolism; follicle-stimulating hormone; Gene expression; genes; Gonadotrophs - metabolism; Human Genetics; hypothalamus; Immunohistochemistry; lungs; luteinizing hormone; Luteinizing Hormone - metabolism; messenger RNA; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Molecular Medicine; Nuclear Proteins - metabolism; Pituitary gland; Pituitary Gland - cytology; Pituitary Gland - metabolism; Pituitary hormones; Pituitary Hormones - metabolism; posterior pituitary; Protein binding; Protein Transport; Proteomics; Rats; Regular; Regular Article; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; RNA; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Rodents; Secretoglobins - metabolism; Staining and Labeling; Thyroid Nuclear Factor 1; transcription factors; Transcription Factors - metabolism; SCGB3A2; C/EBP; LH/FSH; Pituitary; Nkx2-1
• ISSN: 0302-766X; 1432-0878
• DOI: 10.1007/s00441-014-1794-z

Secretoglobin (SCGB) 3A2 was originally identified as a downstream target for the homeodomain transcription factor NKX2-1 in the lung. NKX2-1 plays a role in the genesis and expression of genes in the thyroid, lung and ventral forebrain; Nkx2-1-null mice have no thyroid and pituitary and severely hypoplastic lungs and hypothalamus. To demonstrate whether SCGB3A2 plays any role in pituitary hormone production, NKX2-1 and SCGB3A2 expression in the mouse pituitary gland was examined by immunohistochemical analysis and RT-PCR. NKX2-1 was localized in the posterior pituitary lobe, whereas SCGB3A2 was observed in both anterior and posterior lobes as shown by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. Expression of CCAAT-enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs), which regulate mouse Scgb3a2 transcription, was also examined by RT-PCR. C/EBPβ, γ, δ and ζ were expressed in the adult mouse pituitary gland. SCGB3A2 was expressed in the anterior and posterior lobes from postnatal days 1 and 5, respectively and the areas where SCGB3A2 expression was found coincided with the area where FSH-secreting cells were found. Double-staining for SCGB3A2 and pituitary hormones revealed that SCGB3A2 was mainly localized in gonadotrophs in 49 % of FSH-secreting cells and 47 % of LH-secreting cells. In addition, SCGB3A2 dramatically inhibited LH and FSH mRNA expression in rat pituitary primary cell cultures. These results suggest that SCGB3A2 regulates FSH/LH production in the anterior pituitary lobe and that transcription factors other than NKX2-1 may regulate SCGB3A2 expression.