Abstract
Pit-1/GHF-1 (Pit-1) transcription factors promote the gene expressions for growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and the β chain of thyroid-stimulating hormone in vertebrate pituitary glands. The present study analyzed the nature of chicken Pit-1s (cPit-1s) and their developmental expressions in the pituitary. Chicken pituitary expressed two cPit-1 mRNAs encoding cPit-1α and cPit-1γ composed of 335 and 327 amino acid residues, respectively. They possessed different N-terminal regions and the common C-terminal regions containing a POU-specific domain and a POU homeodomain. Northern blot analysis revealed the pituitary-specific expressions of these Pit-1 mRNAs, and the Pit-1α mRNA expressions were two to three times higher than those for Pit-1γ in both cephalic and caudal lobes of the pituitary. The cPit-1α and γ mRNA expressions simultaneously increased after hatching until 4 weeks and then slightly decreased at 5 weeks. Similar gene expression profiles were observed for GH and PRL during the posthatch developmental period.
Published Version
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