A combined cell column superfusion technique to study hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal interactions in vitro

Rat anterior pituitaries and rat adrenals were dispersed into cell suspensions. In a cell column superfusion system the pituitary cells were used to study ACTH release and the adrenal cells served as a means to detect that hormone. Linear log-dose-response relationships were exhibited by the adrenal cells for ACTH and by the pituitary cell-adrenal cell system for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). A combined system, constructed of a superfused hypothalamus, leading into a column of pituitary cells which was connected to a column of adrenal cells, was used to study the characteristics of CRF release from the hypothalamic block. Basal and stimulated CRF release were both Ca(2+)-dependent.