Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Anim Sci J. 2011 Apr;82(2):307-13. doi: 10.1111/j.1740-0929.2010.00843.x. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
Contrary to humans, most ovarian tumors in other species do not arise from the ovarian surface epithelium but are of follicular-, stromal- or germ-cell origin. One of the few species where ovarian cancer arises from the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) is chicken (Gallus domesticus). Little is known about the morphology of the OSE in other avian species. In our study we analyzed the OSE morphology of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using ultrastructural and histochemical techniques. Carbohydrate residues have been studied by using a panel of fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled lectins. Japanese quails are commonly used animal models in biomedical research as their housing is comparatively inexpensive and they show a short generation interval. Our ultrastructural and histochemical results demonstrate that the quail ovarian surface epithelium shows characteristic features which resemble the epithelia of both chicken and human. Additionally, the ovarian surface epithelium of the Japanese quail contains cytokeratin as well as vimentin intermediate filaments in their cytoplasm. Therewith and among other parts the quail OSE shows many characteristic features also seen in those of humans, which may qualify quail's ovary as a potential animal model for human ovarian carcinomas.
与人类相反，大多数其他物种的卵巢肿瘤并非源自卵巢表面上皮，而是来自滤泡、基质或生殖细胞。在少数几种从卵巢表面上皮（OSE）发生卵巢癌的物种中，有一种是鸡（Gallus domesticus）。关于其他禽类物种的 OSE 形态学，人们知之甚少。在我们的研究中，我们使用超微结构和组织化学技术分析了日本鹌鹑（Coturnix japonica）的 OSE 形态。使用一组荧光素异硫氰酸酯标记的凝集素来研究碳水化合物残基。日本鹌鹑通常被用作生物医学研究中的动物模型，因为它们的饲养成本相对较低，而且它们的世代间隔较短。我们的超微结构和组织化学结果表明，鹌鹑的卵巢表面上皮具有与鸡和人上皮相似的特征。此外，日本鹌鹑的卵巢表面上皮在其细胞质中含有角蛋白和波形蛋白中间丝。因此，除其他部分外，鹌鹑 OSE 还具有许多与人类相似的特征，这可能使鹌鹑的卵巢成为人类卵巢癌的潜在动物模型。
