Loss of β-Catenin in Adrenal Cortical Cells Leads to Congenital Adrenal Hypoplasia without Affecting Adrenal Chromaffin Cells Differentiation

Chen-Che Jeff Huang ； Chia-Feng Liu ； Humphrey Hung-Chang Yao

《Adaptive Medicine》 2卷1期 (2010/04) Pp. 42-46

https://doi.org/10.4247/AM.2010.ABA003

並列摘要

Adrenal cortex contains steroidogenic cells, which synthesize and secrete steroids including glucocorticoids, mineralcorticoids and sex steroids. Glncocorticoids from the adrenal cortex play important roles in not only carbohydrate metabolism and energy balance, but also catecholamine synthesis in the adrenal medulla. Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1), an orphan nuclear receptor, is critical for adrenal cortex sun ii al and steroidogenesis and disruption of SF1 leads to adrenal aplasia. β-catenin, a transcription factor involved in the WNT signaling pathway, was recently linked to adrenal aplasia. In this study, we used the Cre/loxP recombination system to conditionally remove β-catenin in the SF1-positive cells in the adrenal cortex. In the β-catenin conditional knockout animal, adrenal cortex was severely hypoplastic with decreased proliferation. Although β-catenin conditional knockout adrenal had significant fewer cortical cells, the adrenal medulla cells were not affected and were able to differentiate into functional epinephrinergic cells. These results indicate that [1] β-catenin is essential for the proliferation and expansion of adrenal cortex and [2] differentiation of the adrenal medulla does not require a functional β-catenin in the cortex.

並列關鍵字

β-catenin ； adrenal cortical cells ； chromaffin cells