Oster Michael, Keiler Jonas, Schulze Marko, Reyer Henry, Wree Andreas, Wimmers Klaus
Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Institute of Genome Biology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
Department of Anatomy, Rostock University Medical Center, Gertrudenstrasse 9, 18057 Rostock, Germany.
Ann Anat. 2018 Sep;219:76-81. doi: 10.1016/j.aanat.2018.05.007. Epub 2018 Jun 21.
As calcium and phosphorus are of vital importance for life, physiological activity of the parathyroid glands (PTGs) is crucial to maintain mineral homeostasis and bone mineralization. However, PTG-specific molecular routes in response to environmental factors and intrinsic hormonal responses are not yet fully understood. Since nutrient requirements, pathophysiology and functional genomics of pigs are similar to those of humans, pigs might be a suitable model to study the holistic gene expression and physiological aspects of the parathyroid gland, which could be used in both animal sciences and biomedical research. However, due to their small size and hidden location, the dissection of the PTGs, particularly in pigs, is difficult. Therefore, a protocol for untrained dissectors has been established that allows a fast and reliable identification of the PTGs in domestic pigs. Based on their localization within the cranial thymus near the carotid bifurcation, sampling was verified by histological staining and mRNA expression pattern. Analyses revealed the prominence of parathyroid hormone (PTH)-producing chief cells. Moreover, the copy numbers of PTH differed substantially between the PTGs and their surrounding thymus tissue, as PTH was expressed virtually exclusively in the PTGs. The developed protocol will substantially facilitate a fast and reliable dissection of porcine PTGs which is essential for studies characterizing the molecular mechanisms of parathyroid glands, e.g. when applying new feeding strategies in pigs.
由于钙和磷对生命至关重要，甲状旁腺（PTGs）的生理活动对于维持矿物质稳态和骨矿化至关重要。然而，PTG对环境因素和内在激素反应的特异性分子途径尚未完全了解。由于猪的营养需求、病理生理学和功能基因组学与人类相似，猪可能是研究甲状旁腺整体基因表达和生理方面的合适模型，可用于动物科学和生物医学研究。然而，由于其体积小且位置隐蔽，PTGs的解剖，尤其是猪的PTGs解剖很困难。因此，已经建立了一种针对未经训练的解剖人员的方案，该方案能够快速可靠地识别家猪中的PTGs。基于它们在颈动脉分叉附近的颅侧胸腺内的定位，通过组织学染色和mRNA表达模式对取样进行了验证。分析揭示了产生甲状旁腺激素（PTH）的主细胞的突出性。此外，PTGs与其周围胸腺组织之间PTH的拷贝数有很大差异，因为PTH几乎只在PTGs中表达。所开发的方案将极大地促进猪PTGs的快速可靠解剖，这对于表征甲状旁腺分子机制的研究至关重要，例如在猪中应用新的饲养策略时。
