垂体前叶含有多个内分泌细胞群,它们中的每一个都可以分泌一种/两种激素来调节脊椎动物的重要生理过程。然而,在大多数脊椎动物群体中,每个垂体细胞群的基因表达谱仍然缺乏表征。在这里,我们使用单细胞RNA测序技术分析了成年鸡前垂体中每个细胞群体的转录组。结果表明:(1)5个已知的内分泌细胞簇中有4个被鉴定为乳养细胞,促甲状腺激素,皮质营养,和促性腺激素,分别。在当前的研究中没有分析生长素。每个细胞簇可以表达至少一种已知的内分泌激素,和新的标记基因(例如,乳养病中的CD24和HSPB1,促肾上腺皮质激素中的NPBWR2和NDRG1;促甲状腺激素中的DIO2和SOUL,鉴定了促性腺激素中的C5H11ORF96和HPGDS)。有趣的是,促性腺激素被证明大量表达五种肽激素:FSH,LH,GRP,CART和RLN3;(2)四种非内分泌/分泌细胞类型,包括内皮细胞(表达IGFBP7和CFD)和卵泡星状细胞(FS-细胞,表达S100A6和S100A10),在鸡前垂体中发现。其中,FS细胞可以表达许多生长因子,肽(例如,WNT5A,HBEGF,Activins,VEGFC,NPY,和BMP4),和祖细胞/干细胞相关基因(例如,陷波信号组件,CDH1),暗示FS-细胞簇可以作为旁分泌/自分泌信号中心,丰富垂体祖细胞/干细胞;(3)在大多数细胞簇中鉴定出许多基因的有性二态表达,包括促性腺激素和催乳素。一起来看,我们的数据提供了前垂体的各个方面的鸟瞰,包括细胞组成,异质性,细胞到细胞的通信,和基因表达谱,这有助于我们全面了解脊椎动物垂体生物学。
It is well-established that anterior pituitary contains multiple endocrine cell populations, and each of them can secrete one/two hormone(s) to regulate vital physiological processes of vertebrates. However, the gene expression profiles of each pituitary cell population remains poorly characterized in most vertebrate groups. Here we analyzed the transcriptome of each cell population in adult chicken anterior pituitaries using single-cell RNA sequencing technology. The results showed that: (1) four out of five known endocrine cell clusters have been identified and designated as the lactotrophs, thyrotrophs, corticotrophs, and gonadotrophs, respectively. Somatotrophs were not analyzed in the current study. Each cell cluster can express at least one known endocrine hormone, and novel marker genes (e.g., CD24 and HSPB1 in lactotrophs, NPBWR2 and NDRG1 in corticotrophs; DIO2 and SOUL in thyrotrophs, C5H11ORF96 and HPGDS in gonadotrophs) are identified. Interestingly, gonadotrophs were shown to abundantly express five peptide hormones: FSH, LH, GRP, CART and RLN3; (2) four non-endocrine/secretory cell types, including endothelial cells (expressing IGFBP7 and CFD) and folliculo-stellate cells (FS-cells, expressing S100A6 and S100A10), were identified in chicken anterior pituitaries. Among them, FS-cells can express many growth factors, peptides (e.g., WNT5A, HBEGF, Activins, VEGFC, NPY, and BMP4), and progenitor/stem cell-associated genes (e.g., Notch signaling components, CDH1), implying that the FS-cell cluster may act as a paracrine/autocrine signaling center and enrich pituitary progenitor/stem cells; (3) sexually dimorphic expression of many genes were identified in most cell clusters, including gonadotrophs and lactotrophs. Taken together, our data provides a bird\'s-eye view on the diverse aspects of anterior pituitaries, including cell composition, heterogeneity, cell-to-cell communication, and gene expression profiles, which facilitates our comprehensive understanding of vertebrate pituitary biology.