Figure 1. PROP1 is expressed in pituitary stem cells and is necessary for cell cycle regulation.
(A) Left Panel: Double immunofluorescence reveals co-staining of PROP1 (red) and SOX2 (green) at e12.5 in the dorsal and ventral areas of Rathke’s pouch (arrowheads). At e14.5 less co-localization was observed (arrowheads). Right Panel: Nuclear expression of SOX2 (green) and POU1F1 (red) is mutually exclusive during development (e14.5) and afterbirth (P7). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). (B) Immunofluorescence was performed on embryonic sections of Prop1df/df and normal controls at e13.5 with a primary antibody for CYCLIN E (green). No CYCLIN E expression was detected in the developing pituitary glands of mutants. At e13.5 there are more cells double positive for p27kip1 (green) and p57kip2 (red) in the Prop1dfdf relative to Prop1+/+ (arrowheads). (C) Immunofluorescence reveals no changes in CYCLIN D1 expression at e12.5 but a decreased level later in development of Prop1df/df pituitaries compared to controls. Scale bars 100 µm.