The brief review focuses on factors influencing the pituitary cell differentiation both in normal tissue and in adenomas with a pathological hormonal production. The factors comprise proteins controlling transcription process, members of receptor family, and hypophysiotropic peptides from hypothalamus.
The historical dualism concerning the origin of pituitary adenomas (i.e., hypothalamic over-stimulation 'versus' pituitary mutations only) may be explained by a hypothesis based on multistage-controlled process.