Phosphodiesterase 10A Immunoreactivity in the Granular Convoluted Tubule(GCT) of Rat Submandibular Gland

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Immunoreactivity of phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A), cGMP-binding cAMP PDE and cAMP-inhibited cGMP PDE, was examined in the rat submandibular gland (SMG). The intense immunoreactive signals were observed in specialized segments of the duct system of SMG, or granular convoluted tubule (GCT). Each GCT cell was apparently positive but not uniform in signal intensity; that is, in some GCT cells dense immunoreactive granules were distributed throughout the cytoplasm with preferential accumulation in the basal portions, while in the others the immunoreactive granules were scanty in cytoplasm. A few, small, solitary cells of the intercalated ducts (ID) showed immunoreactivity clearly. Cells of both the interlobular excretory ducts and the intralobular striated ducts (SD) exhibited feeble but discernible immunoreactivity. No immunoreactivity was observed in saliva-producing acinar cells in SMG. These results provide information that PDE10A is involved in the special function (s) of GCT cells, and that GCT cells of the rat SMG can be a model for analyzing PDE10A function (s) in the intracellular signal transduction system closely associated with the cell physiology, as well as the molecular aspects of PDE10A.