11月9日,《自然》雜志網站刊登一項研究報告說,，日本研究人員用實驗鼠的胚胎干細胞培育出腦垂體，并且培育出的腦垂體在移植給原本腦垂體有缺陷的實驗鼠后,，能夠正常分泌激素,。這表明醫(yī)生也許可以用這種方法來治療人類的相關疾病。
腦垂體是位于大腦下部的一個內分泌器官,，它分泌多種激素,，在身體生長發(fā)育、調節(jié)血壓,、女性乳汁分泌等多方面都發(fā)揮著重要作用,。這是一個非常復雜的器官，如果功能受損也不易治療,。
日本理研發(fā)育生物學中心等機構的研究人員報告說,，他們利用實驗鼠的胚胎干細胞，在特殊的三維培養(yǎng)環(huán)境中將其培養(yǎng)成為腦垂體,。胚胎干細胞是人和許多動物胚胎中都存在的一種細胞,，它具有分化成為各種器官和組織的潛力。
本次研究顯示,，對于那些腦垂體有缺陷而相關激素水平下降的實驗鼠,，如果植入人工培育的腦垂體，相關激素水平會出現(xiàn)回升,。這顯示了人工培育的腦垂體具有分泌激素的正常功能,。
研究人員表示，接下來他們將嘗試培育人類的腦垂體,，希望能夠在3年內完成這一目標,，但由于對人類移植腦垂體需要考慮的問題更多,，要真正通過移植人工培育的腦垂體來治療疾病還需要更長的時間。（生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1038/nature10637
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Self-formation of functional adenohypophysis in three-dimensional culture
Hidetaka Suga, Taisuke Kadoshima, Maki Minaguchi, Masatoshi Ohgushi, Mika Soen, Tokushige Nakano, Nozomu Takata, Takafumi Wataya, Keiko Muguruma, Hiroyuki Miyoshi, Shigenobu Yonemura, Yutaka Oiso & Yoshiki Sasai
The adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary) is a major centre for systemic hormones. At present, no efficient stem-cell culture for its generation is available, partly because of insufficient knowledge about how the pituitary primordium (Rathke’s pouch) is induced in the embryonic head ectoderm. Here we report efficient self-formation of three-dimensional adenohypophysis tissues in an aggregate culture of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. ES cells were stimulated to differentiate into non-neural head ectoderm and hypothalamic neuroectoderm in adjacent layers within the aggregate, and treated with hedgehog signalling. Self-organization of Rathke’s-pouch-like three-dimensional structures occurred at the interface of these two epithelia, as seen in vivo, and various endocrine cells including corticotrophs and somatotrophs were subsequently produced. The corticotrophs efficiently secreted adrenocorticotropic hormone in response to corticotrophin releasing hormone and, when grafted in vivo, these cells rescued the systemic glucocorticoid level in hypopituitary mice. Thus, functional anterior pituitary tissue self-forms in ES cell culture, recapitulating local tissue interactions.
