IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDY OF THE RAT ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND CONDUCTION OF INFORMATION OF LH-RH BY THE FOLLICULO-STELLATE CELLS

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The folliculo-stellate cell of the anterior pituitary gland was initially reported by Farquhar (1). Intercellular junctions, including gap junctions, have been described between parenchyma cells of the monkey, rat and teleost anterior pituitary glands, indicating the existence of cell-to-cell communication within the organ. We have previously examined their possible role in the rapid dissemination of information through a complex system of interconnecting follicles and reported that gap junction formation in the male rat pituitary gland appears to be under hormonal control. In this study 20 and 60 day-old male rats were each divided into 3 groups. The first group consisted of 20 and 60 day-old animals sacrificed as the intact controls ; in the second group, the brain of the rats was removed 3 min before sacrifice ; and the third group animals were treated in a similar manner as the second except that they were given LH-RH for 3 min. after removal of the brain. The pituitary glands were then analyzed using immunohistochemistry and histomorphometry or processed for ultrastructural examination. The morphological changes were rather slight, with the number of secretory granules in some LH-type cells decreasing following LH-RH treatment. Gap junctions were not present between folliculo-stellate cells in the hypophysis of the 20 day-old rats nor were significant changes in LHβ immunoreactive cells noted. The density of the LH cells increased slightly after brain detachment but declined significantly in the presence of LH-RH on day 60. These changes were confirmed by histomorphometry. The present study shows that cell-to-cell conduction of the folliculo-stellate cells through gap junctions acts to aid in the regulation of hormone secretion, presumably LH, from the hypophysis. Moreover, these findings also indicate the possibility that the signal provided by the releasing hormone was amplified through a network of folliculo-stellate cells, perhaps located in the pars tuberalis.
名古屋市立大学の論文
2001-06-01

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDY OF THE RAT ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND CONDUCTION OF INFORMATION OF LH-RH BY THE FOLLICULO-STELLATE CELLS

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