Building a Pituitary Gland from Scratch

A good demonstration of the state of the art of tissue engineering: "Last spring, a research team at Japan's RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology created retina-like structures from cultured mouse embryonic stem cells. This week, the same group reports that it's achieved an even more complicated feat - synthesizing a stem-cell-derived pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a small organ at the base of the brain that produces many important hormones and is a key part of the body's endocrine system. It's especially crucial during early development, so the ability to simulate its formation in the lab could help researchers better understand how these developmental processes work. ... The experiment wouldn't have been possible without a three-dimensional cell culture. The pituitary gland is an independent organ, but it can't develop without chemical signals from the hypothalamus, the brain region that sits just above it. With a three-dimensional culture, the researchers could grow both types of tissue together, allowing the stem cells to self-assemble into a mouse pituitary. ... Using this method, we could mimic the early mouse development more smoothly, since the embryo develops in 3-D in vivo. ... Fluorescence staining showed that the cultured pituitary tissue expressed the appropriate biomarkers and secreted the right hormones. The researchers went a step further and tested the functionality of their synthesized organs by transplanting them into mice with pituitary deficits. The transplants were a success, restoring levels of glucocorticoid hormones in the blood and reversing behavioral symptoms, such as lethargy."

Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/39108/

Comments

my grandson,who is currently 20,was born without a pituitary gland.he takes hormone shots including teastosterone shots.recently he had a blood test showing high liver enzymes,is there hope for kids like him!will it be possible for this research to be allowed on humans>/he is a really god kid and i would like to see him whole again~how do i find out what kind of hope is out there for him>hes a great kid.poor baby also has apsbergers

Posted by: chris clemmons at June 13th, 2018 7:07 PM

Hello, Riken Center. Are you still working on stem cell derived pituitaries in 2019? How are things at the Riken Center?

Posted by: Tip Boxell at August 30th, 2019 5:59 PM
Comment Submission

Post a comment; thoughtful, considered opinions are valued. New comments can be edited for a few minutes following submission. Comments incorporating ad hominem attacks, advertising, and other forms of inappropriate behavior are likely to be deleted.

Note that there is a comment feed for those who like to keep up with conversations.