Pit-1 gene expression in the human pituitary and pituitary adenomas

The cellular basis for pituitary neoplasia is poorly understood. The POU domain protein Pit-1 is a pituitary-specific transcription factor involved in the generation, differentiation, and proliferation of three pituitary cell types: lactotrophs, somatotrophs, and thyrotrophs. In this study, we analyzed the expression of Pit-1 gene in a series of 15 different human pituitary tumors and compared it with that observed in normal tissue. Pit-1 transcripts, identical in size (2.4 and 4.5 kilobases) and sequence to those observed in normal tissue were evidenced in PRL-, GH-, and TSH-secreting tumors. Pit-1 is overexpressed (2.5- to 5-fold) in the PRL- and GH-secreting tumors, but to an extent consistent with the predominant cellular type of these adenomas. An isoform of Pit-1, with an insertion of 26 amino acids in the trans-activation domain as a result of alternative splicing, is also present in both normal and tumoral tissues. It is concluded that human pituitary tumorigenesis does not seem to be associated with a gross alteration of Pit-1 gene expression.