Maps suggest several cell renewal routes in human adrenal glands

In humans, some cell states in the cortex’s outermost layer were associated with age and had the capacity to make cortisol, a stress-response hormone. The cortex is the gland’s outer region. Gene activity patterns suggested that cells from the gland’s covering and blood vessel walls could become hormone-producing cells. Shared genetic alterations in one donor supported some inferred transitions. Dividing hormone-producing cells appeared throughout the human cortex. In mice, they were restricted to its outermost layer. The authors proposed that human adrenal renewal extends beyond the model in which new cells move inward from the outer layer.