Isolation of Mesenchymal Stem-like Cells from a Pituitary Adenoma Specimen

Abstract

Some of the pituitary adenomas are invasive and spread into neighboring tissues. In previous studies, the invasion of pituitary adenomas is thought to be associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition to that, we thought that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exist in relevant microenvironment in pituitary adenoma. However, it has been little known about the existence of MSCs from pituitary adenoma. So we investigated whether mesenchymal stem-like cells (MSLCs) can be isolated from the pituitary adenoma specimen. We isolated and cultured candidate MSLCs from the fresh pituitary adenoma specimen with the same protocols used in culturing bone marrow derived MSCs (BM-MSCs). The cultured candidate MSLCs were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for surface markers associated with MSCs. Candidate MSLCs were exposed to mesenchymal differentiation conditions to determine the mesenchymal differentiation potential of these cells. To evaluate the tumorigenesis of candidate MSLCs from pituitary adenoma, we implanted these cells into the brain of athymic nude mice. We isolated cells resembling BM-MSCs named pituitary adenoma stroma mesenchymal stem-like cells (PAS-MSLCs). PAS-MSLCs were spindle shaped and had adherent characteristics. FACS analysis identified that the PAS-MSLCs had a bit similar surface markers to BM-MSCs. Isolated cells expressed surface antigen, positive for CD105, CD75, and negative for CD45, NG2, and CD90. We found that these cells were capable of differentiation into adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes. Tumor was not developed in the nude mice brains that were implanted with the PAS-MSLCs. In this study, we showed that MSLCs can be isolated from a pituitary adenoma specimen which is not tumorigenic.