Regenerative Capacity of the Adult Pituitary: Multiple Mechanisms of Lactotrope Restoration After Transgenic Ablation

In a recent study, we showed that the adult pituitary gland is capable of regenerating transgenically ablated growth hormone-producing (GH(+)) somatotropes. Here, we investigated whether the gland's regenerative capacity is more general and also applies to the other major hormonal cell type, the prolactin-producing (PRL+) lactotropes. We set up the transgenic PRLCre/inducible diphtheria toxin receptor (iDTR) mouse model, in which the PRL promoter drives expression of Cre that induces DTR in lactotropes. Injection of female mice with DT for different periods causes a gradual ablation of PRL+ cells, reaching a maximum of 70% after 10-day DT treatment. During the following weeks, lactotropes progressively reappear achieving a 60% restoration after 6 weeks. The Sox(2+) stem/progenitor cell compartment displays a prompt reaction to the DT-triggered cell ablation injury, including expansion of the marginal-zone niche and coexpression of PRL, the latter only very rarely observed in control pituitary. Throughout the regeneration period (2-6 weeks), Sox(2+) as well as double Sox(2+)/PRL+ cells continue to be more abundant than in control pituitary. In addition to this stem cell reaction, surviving or newborn lactotropes increase their proliferative activity, and bihormonal PRL+/GH(+) cells become detectable suggesting somatotrope-to-lactotrope transdifferentiation. In conclusion, the adult pituitary gland is capable of restoring lactotrope cells after destruction, further confirming its regenerative competence. Repair of lactotropes appears to be driven by a combination of mechanisms, including recruitment from stem cells, proliferation of lactotropes, and transdifferentiation of somatotropes.