A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Early precursor-derived pituitary gland tissue-resident macrophages play a pivotal role in modulating hormonal balance




AuthorsLehtonen, Henna; Jokela, Heli; Hofmann, Julian; Tola, Lauriina; Mehmood, Arfa; Ginhoux, Florent; Becher, Burkhard; Greter, Melanie; Yegutkin, Gennady G.; Salmi, Marko; Gerke, Heidi; Rantakari, Pia

PublisherElsevier BV

Publication year2025

JournalCell Reports

Journal name in sourceCell Reports

Article number115227

Volume44

Issue2

eISSN2211-1247

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115227

Web address https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115227

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/478226326


Abstract

The pituitary gland is the central endocrine regulatory organ producing and releasing hormones that coordinate major body functions. The physical location of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, though outside the protective blood-brain barrier, leads to an unexplored special immune environment. Using single-cell transcriptomics, fate mapping, and imaging, we characterize pituitary-resident macrophages (pitMØs), revealing their heterogeneity and spatial specialization. Microglia-like macrophages (ml-MACs) are enriched in the posterior pituitary, while other pitMØs in the anterior pituitary exhibit close interactions with hormone-secreting cells. Importantly, all pitMØs originate from early yolk sac progenitors and maintain themselves through self-renewal, independent of bone marrow-derived monocytes. Macrophage depletion experiments unveil the role of macrophages in regulating intrapituitary hormonal balance through extracellular ATP-mediated intercellular signaling. Altogether, these findings provide information on pituitary gland macrophages and advance our understanding of immune-endocrine system crosstalk.


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Funding information in the publication
The Research Council of Finland, the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, and the Turku Doctoral Program of Molecular Medicine financially supported this study.


Last updated on 2025-31-03 at 14:30