Single-Cell Transcriptomics Identifies Pituitary Gland Population Changes in Diet-Induced Obesity

The obesity incidence is increasing worldwide with the urgent need to identify new therapeutics. Obesity is associated with endocrine alterations, arising from changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary hormone axes, leading to reproductive disorders, altered basal metabolism and stress hormone production. The focus of this study was to determine if diet induced obesity alters pituitary gland plasticity, gene expression and hormone production and secretion. Here we performed single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) on pituitary glands from control (CTRL) and high fat diet (HFD) fed males and looked at cell type population dynamics and gene expression changes between HFD and CTRL for all hormone-producing cell types. Our study revealed diet-induced changes in pituitary gland plasticity and hormone production that may play a role in altered hormone production in obese patients and consequently, dysregulation of pituitary gland homeostasis. WT male mice were placed on CTRL or HFD for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks on their respective diets, pituitary glands were collected and enzymatically digested separately into single cell suspensions. Cell suspensions were counted and scRNA-seq was performed using the 10x Genomics Chromium Next GEM Single Cell 3’ v.3.1 Dual Index kit and protocol.