11月9日,《自然》杂志网站刊登一项研究报告说，日本研究人员用实验鼠的胚胎干细胞培育出脑垂体，并且培育出的脑垂体在移植给原本脑垂体有缺陷的实验鼠后，能够正常分泌激素。这表明医生也许可以用这种方法来治疗人类的相关疾病。
脑垂体是位于大脑下部的一个内分泌器官，它分泌多种激素，在身体生长发育、调节血压、女性乳汁分泌等多方面都发挥着重要作用。这是一个非常复杂的器官，如果功能受损也不易治疗。
日本理研发育生物学中心等机构的研究人员报告说，他们利用实验鼠的胚胎干细胞，在特殊的三维培养环境中将其培养成为脑垂体。胚胎干细胞是人和许多动物胚胎中都存在的一种细胞，它具有分化成为各种器官和组织的潜力。
本次研究显示，对于那些脑垂体有缺陷而相关激素水平下降的实验鼠，如果植入人工培育的脑垂体，相关激素水平会出现回升。这显示了人工培育的脑垂体具有分泌激素的正常功能。
研究人员表示，接下来他们将尝试培育人类的脑垂体，希望能够在3年内完成这一目标，但由于对人类移植脑垂体需要考虑的问题更多，要真正通过移植人工培育的脑垂体来治疗疾病还需要更长的时间。（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.
