ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Endocrinology 165(12) (2024).PMID: 39487735

Brief Summary: This experimental study presents a valuable resource of transcriptomic analyses to identify cis-acting long noncoding (lnc) RNAs during murine pituitary development.

This paper from Camper’s laboratory presents an excellent resource of lncRNA expression in the developing and adult mouse pituitary, focusing on 3 major hormone producing lineages: thyrotropes, gonadotropes, and somatotropes. Through RNA seq analysis of pituitaries at embryonic days (E) 12.5 and E14.5, they identified over 200 embryonic lncRNA transcripts. Moreover, the authors use fluorescent tagging and fluorescent activated sorting (FACs) to isolate the specific cell types, detecting hundreds more lineage-specific lncRNAs. The authors find that a subset of these lncRNAs were genomically positioned immediately adjacent to genes encoding pituitary hormones or important transcription factors required for pituitary development. The authors hypothesise that these lncRNAs may have cis-regulatory potential. Two of these lncRNAs displayed correlated expression – in transgenic mouse models – with their nearby protein-coding targets.

This work offers a detailed atlas of developmentally and cell-type-specific lncRNAs within the pituitary. The dataset is available and hence represents a unique resource to study candidate lncRNAs. The spatial proximity of many lncRNAs to hormone genes (e.g., Cga, Foxl2) suggests they may regulate nearby gene expression by altering chromatin states, modulating transcription, or forming RNA-DNA interactions. While intriguing, these roles remain to be experimentally confirmed.