Genes that fashion the pituitary gland

The pituitary gland with its distinct populations of hormone-producing cells is formed from precursor cells that are created when epithelial cells from the prospective diencephalon about the roof of the oral cavity during early development of the mammalian embryo. Successive steps of assembly during development lead from a rudimentary pouch to a definitive structure called Rathke's pouch, and finally to the pituitary gland with its anterior, intermediate and posterior lobes. The proliferation and differentiation of highly specialized cells from their precursors is directed by signaling cascades and transcriptional events that are being dissected by genetic and molecular approaches. Our current state of knowledge in this regard allows us to use the pituitary as a paradigm to delineate general principles of organogenesis in the mammalian organism.