Pituitary action of cytokines: focus on BMP-4 and gp130 family

GIACOMINI D, ACUÑA M, GEREZ J, NAGASHIMA AC, SILBERSTEIN S, PÁEZ-PEREDA M, LABEUR M, THEODOROPOULOU M, RENNER U, STALLA GK, ARZT E.

NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

Año: 2007 vol. 85 p. 94 - 100

0028-3835

The anterior pituitary can develop benign tumors of different sizes, classified as micro- and macroadenomas, frequently associated with high levels of hormone production, leading to different associated syndromes like Cushing’s disease, acromegaly or prolactinomas. Much work has been done in order to understand the signaling pathways and the factors and hormones involved in the pituitary tumorigenic process. In recent years, much evidence has been collected and it is now well documented that cytokines of the gp130 family, such as interleukin-6, that use gp130 as a common signaling protein stimulate not only the proliferation but also the hormone secretion of pituitary cells. Experiments in vivo have shown that the overexpression of the gp130 receptor resulted in pituitary abnormal growth. Moreover, it has beenrecently described that bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), a member of the TGF-
family, has a stimulatory