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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Author Spotlight: Hypothalamic Neural Mechanism Insights
Published on: August 4, 2023
Pituitary corticotroph identity and receptor-mediated signaling: a transcriptomics perspective
Stanko S Stojilkovic1, Rafael M Previde1, Arthur S Sherman2
1Section on Cellular Signaling, The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
None:
Recent single-cell RNA sequencing has offered an unprecedented view of pituitary cell transcriptomic profiles. In this review, these new data are briefly discussed and compared with the classical literature, focusing on pituitary corticotrophs. These cells are introduced by discussing their marker genes, followed by a review of G protein-coupled receptor gene expression, heterotrimeric G protein genes, and genes encoding signaling pathways downstream of G proteins: adenylate cyclases, phosphodiesterases, phospholipases, and protein kinases. The expression patterns of enzyme-linked plasma membrane and nuclear hormone receptor genes was also analyzed. The overview of these selected groups of genes sheds new light on corticotrophic receptors and their signaling pathways and provides guidance for further basic and clinical research by identifying genes that not been studied so far.
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