Table 1.

Post-Natal Pituitary Hormone Content of Delta-Like 1 Homologue (Dlk1)-Null Mutant and Wild-Type Littermates Over Time

Hormone	P14 +/+	P14 +/−	P42 +/+	P42 +/−	P100 +/+	P100 +/−
Male
GH	4.03 μg ± 0.45	2.81 μg ± 0.28(*)	63.32 μg ± 3.51	47.21 μg ± 3.32(**)	77.58 μg ± 4.84	52.63 ug ± 2.80(***)
PRL	8.99 ng ± 1.26	6.99 ng ± 1.42 (NS)	0.33 μg ± 0.10	0.24 μg ± 0.035 (NS)	1.67 μg ± 0.31	1.41 μg ± 0.11 (NS)
TSH	0.37 μg ± 0.027	0.28 μg ± 0.0091 (**)	0.44 μg ± 0.014	0.34 μg ± 0.030 (**)	0.56 μg ± 0.036	0.39 μg ± 0.019(**)
ACTH	7.67 ng ± 0.75	5.77 ng ± 0.71 (NS)	69.44 ng ± 4.45	54.63 ng ± 2.80 (*)	145 ng ± 13.70	115 ng ± 13.36 (NS)
LH	45.71 ng ± 5.15	21.0 ng ± 2.95(**)	2.28 μg ± 0.17	1.49 μg ± 0.19	1.25 μg ± 0.075	0.81 μg ± 0.048(***)
FSH	7.76 ng ± 0.75	5.77 ng ± 0.71 (NS)	287 ng ± 23.35	172 ng ± 17.10(**)	536 ng ± 35.91	352 ng ± 25.58(**)
Females
GH	6.658 μg ± 1.00	2.575 μg ± 0.28(**)	35.23 μg ± 3.98	20.21 μg ± 2.22 (*)	80.76 μg ± 4.43	55.11 μg ± 5.83(**)
PRL	27.17 ng ± 6.10	11.04 ng ± 1.35(*)	1.69 ng ± 0.20	0.88 μg ± 0.27(*)	4.61 ng ± 0.64	6.18 ng ± 0.80(NS)
TSH	0.37 μg ± 0.031	0.30 μg ± 0.027 (NS)	0.37 μg ± 0.025	0.24 μg ± 0.025 (**)	0.53 μg ± 0.013	0.39 μg ± 0.019 (***)
ACTH	7.36 ng ± 1.17	4.18 ng ± 0.81(*)	58.94 ng ± 2.85	49.88 ng ± 3.20(NS)	93.98 ng ± 3.17	113.4 ng ± 9.75 (NS)
LH	107.6 ng ± 24.3	28.1 ng ± 2.78 (**)	0.31 μg ± 0.049	0.25 μg ± 0.081 (NS)	0.41 μg ± 0.36	0.30 μg ± 0.036 (*)
FSH	7.36 ng ± 1.17	4.18 ng ± 0.81 (**)	20.83 ng ± 1.82	12.89 ng ± 2.92(*)	33.11 ng ± 2.58	23.56 ng ± 1.30(**)

Pituitaries from 2-, 6- and 14-week old Dlk-1 null mutant and wild-type were assayed for GH, prolactin (PRL), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). All hormones show a mild reduction in content at some time during the mice's life, although not all remain deficient. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM of seven to ten mice. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 Dlk1-null versus wild-type littermates. NS, not significant.