Vascular endothelial cells and pituitary hormone producing cells derived from embryonic stem cells therapy for hypopituitarism

Abstract

The common causes of hypopituitarism today are pituitary tumors, brain damage including traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, neurosurgery, irradiation, and stroke. The main mechanism of hypopituitarism is vascular and neuronal damage of the hypothalamic–pituitary axis. At present, medical treatment of hypopituitarism caused by brain damage is hormone substitute with disadvantages of side effects, high expense and a requirement for daily injections over several years. A new protocol indicates that embryonic stem cells can be efficiently induced to differentiate into vascular endothelial cells, which integrated with host cells to form chimeric vasculature. Also, the growing body of recent evidence shows that specific hormone producing cells can be differentiated from embryonic stem cells under certain conditions. Additionally, a recent study demonstrates that endocrine cells generated from embryonic stem cells could integrate into the host in vivo and have endocrine function. Therefore, we hypothesize that vascular endothelial cells and pituitary hormone producing cells derived from embryonic stem cells labeled by iron oxide nanoparticles are injected into pituitary fossa by endoscopic transsphenoidal approach, the transplanted cells might restore vascular and neuronal damage of hypothalamic–pituitary axis, cellular therapy for hypopituitarism caused by brain damage.