Immunocytochemical localization of secretory phospholipase A(2)-like protein in the pituitary gland and surrounding tissue of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana.

Previously, we obtained a protein that has considerable amino acid sequence homology with secretory phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) from a bullfrog pituitary fraction obtained during the purification of thyrotropin (TSH). Subsequently, partial amino acid sequence (N-terminal 45 amino acid residues) analysis revealed this protein to be identical to the N-terminal amino acid sequence of otoconin-22, the major protein of aragonitic otoconia in the Xenopus saccule. In this study we developed an antibody against the N-terminal peptide of the bullfrog protein and applied it for immunocytochemical study of the pituitary and its surrounding tissue. Western blotting analysis showed that this antibody recognizes a 20.4-kD protein that has a molecular mass close to that of otoconin-22. Immunohistochemical reaction with the antibody was not found in any anterior pituitary cells but was intense in the monolayer epithelial cells of the endolymphatic sac surrounding the pituitary gland, which is a major storage site of calcium carbonate in amphibians. An electron microscopic study revealed that the cuboidal cells in the endolymphatic sac contained large, polymorphic secretory granules in their apical cytoplasm. Immunogold particles indicating the presence of a PLA(2)-like protein were observed predominately in these secretory granules. These findings support the view that this PLA(2)-like protein obtained during purification of TSH was derived from the endolymphatic sac adhering to the pituitary and that this protein is a bullfrog otoconin. (J Histochem Cytochem 49:631-637, 2001)