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This Article Accepted manuscript (PDF) Supplementary data All Versions of this Article: JOE-09-0153v1 202/3/375    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Chauvet, N. Articles by Coutry, N. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chauvet, N. Articles by Coutry, N.

N Chauvet, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
T El-Yandouzi, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
M Mathieu, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
A Schlernitzauer, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
E Galibert, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
C Lafont, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
P Le Tissier, Division of Molecular Neuroendocrinology, National Institute of Medical Research, London, United Kingdom
I Robinson, Division of Molecular Neuroendocrinology, National Institute of Medical Research, London, United Kingdom
P Mollard, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France
N Coutry, Département d'Endocrinologie, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, MONTPELLIER CEDEX5, France

Correspondence: Nathalie Coutry, Email: Nathalie.Coutry{at}igf.cnrs.fr

Our view of anterior pituitary organization has been altered with the recognition that folliculo-stellate and somatotroph cell populations form large-scale 3-D homotypic networks. This morphological cellular organization may optimize communication within the pituitary gland promoting coordinated pulsatile secretion adapted to physiological needs. The aim of this study was to identify the molecules involved in the formation and potential functional organization and/or signaling within these cell-cell networks. Here, we have focused on one class of cell adhesion molecules, the cadherins, since β-catenin has been detected in the GH cell network. We have characterized, by qPCR and immunohistochemistry, their cellular expression and distribution. We have also examined whether their expression could be modulated during pituitary tissue remodeling. The mouse anterior pituitary has a restricted and cell-type specific repertoire of cadherin expression: cadherin11 is exclusively expressed in TSH cells; N-cadherin displays an ubiquitous expression pattern, but with different levels of expression between endocrine cell types; E-cadherin is restricted to homotypic contacts between FS cells; whilst cadherin18 is expressed both in somatotrophs and FS cells. Thus, each cell type presents a defined combinatorial expression of different subsets of cadherins. This cell-type specific cadherin expression profile emerges early during development and undergoes major changes during post-natal development. These results suggest the existence within the anterior pituitary of cell-cell contact signaling based on a defined pattern of cadherin expression, which may play a crucial role in cellular recognition during the formation and fate of pituitary cell homotypic networks.