Epigenetics Of Pituitary Cell Growth And Survival

Intragenic mutations of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes are not common in pituitary tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, signals implicated in pituitary development may be relevant to neoplastic changes. Equally as important, accumulating evidence suggests that pituitary tumors are frequently associated with epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, enhanced miRNA, and histone modifications. This chapter reviews the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) as a model through which the p53-regulating melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) system governs pituitary cells. In addition, the authors describe Ikaros (Ik) as a key factor, whose transcriptional actions and chromatin remodeling properties determine the fate of hypothalamic neuroendocrine and pituitary cell population expansion. The pathogenetic and potential therapeutic implications of these findings are also discussed.