Early precursor-derived pituitary gland tissue-resident macrophages play a pivotal role in modulating hormonal balance

Abstract

The pituitary gland is the central endocrine regulatory organ underneath the brain, producing and releasing a variety of hormones that coordinate major body functions. The physical location of the pituitary gland underneath the brain, though outside the protective blood-brain barrier, leads to a unique immune environment of the pituitary that has not been studied. Here, we defined the development, diversity, spatial niche, and origin of the pituitary gland macrophage subsets using single cell transcriptomics, fate mapping, and imaging. We identified early yolk sac precursors solely seeding pituitary gland macrophages which are maintained by proliferation. Macrophage depletion experiments unveiled the essential contribution of early macrophages in the pituitary glands hormonal production and in modulating the post-pubertal expression of genes related to the sexually dimorphic processes regulated by the pituitary gland. Altogether, these findings provide novel information on pituitary gland macrophages and advance our understanding of immune-endocrine system crosstalk.