Fig. 2

Human pituitary adenomas express genes in keeping with the developing pituitary and contain a distinct cell population capable of sphere formation. a Sphere formation capacity of adenomas is dependent on subtype. b Pax7 and (c) Sox2, genes activated during development of the pituitary gland are preferentially expressed in PAICs irrespective of subtype. Both, (d) Pax7^high and (e) Sox2^high tumors display an increased capacity for sphere formation when compared to Pax7^low and Sox2^low adenomas