Notch signaling-mediated cell-to-cell interaction is dependent on E-cadherin adhesion in adult rat anterior pituitary

The rat anterior pituitary is composed of hormone-producing cells, non-hormone-producing cells (referred to as folliculostellate cells) and marginal layer cells. In the adult rat, progenitor cells of hormone-producing cells have recently been reported to be maintained within this non-hormone-producing cell population. In tissue, non-hormone-producing cells construct homophilic cell aggregates by the differential expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. We have previously shown that Notch signaling, a known regulator of progenitor cells in a number of organs, is activated in the cell aggregates. We now investigate the relationship between Notch signaling and E-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion in the pituitary gland. Immunohistochemically, Notch signaling receptor Notch2 and the ligand Jagged1 were localized within E-cadherin-positive cells in the marginal cell layer and in the main part of the anterior lobe, whereas Notch1 was localized in E-cadherin-positive and -negative cells. Activation of Notch signaling within E-cadherin-positive cells was confirmed by immunostaining of the Notch target HES1. Notch2 and Jagged1 were always co-localized within the same cells suggesting that homologous cells have reciprocal effects in activating Notch signaling. When the E-cadherin function was inhibited by exposure to a monoclonal antibody (DECMA-1) in primary monolayer cell culture, the percentage of HES1-positive cells among Notch2-positive cells was less than half that of the control. The present results suggest that E-cadherin-mediated cell attachment is necessary for the activation of Notch signaling in the anterior pituitary gland but not for the expression of the Notch2 molecule.