Data from: Spatially coordinated dynamic gene transcription in living pituitary tissue

Transcription at individual genes in single cells is often pulsatile and
stochastic. A key question emerges regarding how this behaviour
contributes to tissue phenotype, but it has been a challenge to
quantitatively analyse this in living cells over time, as opposed to
studying snap-shots of gene expression state. We have used imaging of
reporter gene expression to track transcription in living pituitary
tissue. We integrated live-cell imaging data with statistical modelling
for quantitative real-time estimation of the timing of switching between
transcriptional states across a whole tissue. Multiple levels of
transcription rate were identified, indicating that gene expression is not
a simple binary ‘on-off’ process. Immature tissue displayed shorter
durations of high-expressing states than the adult. In adult pituitary
tissue, direct cell contacts involving gap junctions allowed local spatial
coordination of prolactin gene expression. Our findings identify how
heterogeneous transcriptional dynamics of single cells may contribute to
overall tissue behaviour.