Homeobox transcription factors are known to play crucial roles in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. During molecular cloning with the Yeast One-Hybrid System using a 5'-upstream region of the porcine Fshβ as a bait sequence, we have cloned a cDNA encoding a partial sequence of the retina-derived POU domain factor 1 (RPF1) from the porcine pituitary cDNA library and confirmed its specifi...

In laboratory mice, suppression of growth hormone (GH) signaling by spontaneous mutations or targeted disruption of GHor IGF1-related genes can lead to an impressive increase of longevity. Hypopituitary Ames dwarf (Prop1) and GH receptor knockout (GHRKO) mice live 35-70% longer than their normal littermates. Many phenotypic characteristics of these longlived mutants resemble findings in genetic...

Cocaine-and Amphetamine Regulated Transcript (CART) peptide is expressed in the brain, endocrine and neuroendocrine systems and secreted into the serum. It is thought to play a role in regulation of hypothalamic pituitary functions. Here we report a spatial and temporal analysis of Cart expression in the pituitaries of adult and developing normal and mutant mice with hypopituitarism. We found t...

Mutations in transcription factors genes, which are well regulated spatially and temporally in the pituitary gland, result in congenital hypopituitarism (CH) in humans. The prevalence of CH attributable to transcription factor mutations appears to be rare and varies among populations.This study aimed to define the prevalence of CH in terms of nine CH-associated genes among Japanese patients. We...

Introduction: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is distributed worldwide and infects most species. The serious incidence and severe or fatal injury caused by T. gondii infection clearly indicates the necessity for the event of a vaccine. The current study goals were to evaluate serological applications of Toxoplasma gondiirhoptry protein 1 (ROP1) ...

1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Function and Development of the Pituitary Gland 3.1. Murine pituitary development 3.2. Pituitary development in humans 4. Induction and morphogenesis of Rathke’s Pouch 4.1. Origin of the pituitary primordium 4.2. BMP4 is essential for induction of RP 4.3. Opposing BMP and FGF gradients specify pituitary progenitors and pattern RP. 4.4. Sonic hedgehog signalling pr...

introduction: toxoplasma gondii (t. gondii) is distributed worldwide and infects most species. the serious incidence and severe or fatal injury caused by t. gondii infection clearly indicates the necessity for the event of a vaccine. the current study goals were to evaluate serological applications of toxoplasma gondiirhoptry protein 1 (rop1) antigen. materials and methods: we created a polymer...