Folliculostellate cells are required for laminin release from gonadotrophs in rat anterior pituitary.

The anterior pituitary gland is organized tissue comprising hormone-producing cells and folliculostellate (FS) cells. FS cells interconnect to form a meshwork, and their cytoplasmic processes are anchored by a basement membrane containing laminin. Recently, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) cell culture that reproduces this FS cell architecture. In this study of the novel function of FS cells, we used transgenic rats that express green fluorescent protein in FS cells for the 3D culture. Anterior pituitary cells were cultured with different proportions of FS cells (0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%). Anterior pituitary cells containing 5-20% FS cells formed round/oval cell aggregates, whereas amorphous cell aggregates were formed in the absence of FS cells. Interestingly, immunohistochemistry showed laminin-immunopositive cells instead of extracellular laminin deposition in FS cell-deficient cell aggregates. Double-immunostaining revealed that these laminin-immunopositive cells were gonadotrophs. Laminin mRNA expression did not differ in relation to the presence or absence of FS cells. When anterior pituitary cells with no FS cells were cultured with FS cell-conditioned medium, the proportion of laminin-immunopositive cells was lower than in control. These results suggest that a humoral factor from FS cells is required for laminin release from gonadotrophs.