A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of mouse pituitary aging

Aging is a multifactorial process with significant functional alterations of the human body including endocrinal systems which control the whole-body physiology and metabolism. In this vein, aging-induced decline of endocrine function are associated with multiple physiological and metabolic diseases. However, aging-associated molecular shifts in the pituitary gland, the central organ of the endocrine system, have not been dissected systemically. In this study, we conducted single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the anterior pituitary gland by comparing old and young male mice. Single-cell transcriptomics not only increased the resolution for clustering of various cell types in the pituitary gland, but also enabled detailed analysis of differential expression and intercellular communication caused by aging. In summary, our study constructed the first single-cell transcriptomic atlas of pituitary aging and identified associated features of in a single-cell level, providing resources to develop novel potential therapeutic targets for aging-associated endocrine dysfunction. To investigate the aging-associated transcriptomic changes of mouse pituitary in a single-cell level, ten pituitary glands of male C57BL/6 mice were harvested from each of two distinct age groups, young (2-month) and old (20-month). Then, ten tissues from each age group were merged into a sample to secure enough number of cells for scRNA-seq