Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, Republic of Korea.
Department of Veterinary Obstetrics, College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, Republic of Korea.
Cells Tissues Organs. 2024;213(2):147-160. doi: 10.1159/000528883. Epub 2023 Jan 4.
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a tubular pheromone-sensing organ in which the lumen is covered with sensory and non-sensory epithelia. This study used immunohistochemistry and lectin histochemistry techniques to evaluate developmental changes, specifically of the glycoconjugate profile, in the horse VNO epithelium. Immunostaining analysis revealed PGP9.5 expression in some vomeronasal non-sensory epithelium (VNSE) cells and in the vomeronasal receptor cells of the vomeronasal sensory epithelium (VSE) in fetuses, young foals, and adult horses. Olfactory marker protein expression was exclusively localized in receptor cells of the VSE in fetuses, young foals, and adult horses and absent in VNSE. To identify the glycoconjugate type, lectin histochemistry was performed using 21 lectins. Semi-quantitative analysis revealed that the intensities of glycoconjugates labeled with WGA, DSL, LEL, and RCA120 were significantly higher in adult horse VSE than those in foal VSE, whereas the intensities of glycoconjugates labeled with LCA and PSA were significantly lower in adult horse VSE. The intensities of glycoconjugates labeled with s-WGA, WGA, BSL-II, DSL, LEL, STL, ConA, LCA, PSA, DBA, SBA, SJA, RCA120, jacalin, and ECL were significantly higher in adult horse VNSE than those in foal VNSE, whereas the intensity of glycoconjugates labeled with UEA-I was lower in adult horse VNSE. Histochemical analysis of each lectin revealed that various glycoconjugates in the VSE were present in the receptor, supporting, and basal cells of foals and adult horses. A similar pattern of lectin histochemistry was also observed in the VNSE of foals and adult horses. In conclusion, these results suggest that there is an increase in the level of N-acetylglucosamine (labeled by WGA, DSL, LEL) and galactose (labeled by RCA120) in horse VSE during postnatal development, implying that they may influence the function of VNO in adult horses.
犁鼻器（VNO）是一种管状的信息素感应器官，其管腔被感觉和非感觉上皮覆盖。本研究使用免疫组织化学和凝集素组织化学技术来评估马 VNO 上皮的发育变化，特别是糖缀合物谱的变化。免疫染色分析显示，在胎儿、幼驹和成年马的犁鼻非感觉上皮（VNSE）细胞和犁鼻感觉上皮（VSE）的犁鼻受体细胞中，存在 PGP9.5 表达。嗅觉标记蛋白的表达仅局限于胎儿、幼驹和成年马的 VSE 受体细胞中，而在 VNSE 中则不存在。为了确定糖缀合物的类型，使用 21 种凝集素进行了凝集素组织化学染色。半定量分析显示，在成年马的 VSE 中，与 WGA、DSL、LEL 和 RCA120 标记的糖缀合物的强度明显高于幼驹的 VSE，而与 LCA 和 PSA 标记的糖缀合物的强度明显低于成年马的 VSE。与 s-WGA、WGA、BSL-II、DSL、LEL、STL、ConA、LCA、PSA、DBA、SBA、SJA、RCA120、荆豆凝集素和 ECL 标记的糖缀合物的强度在成年马的 VNSE 中明显高于幼驹的 VNSE，而与 UEA-I 标记的糖缀合物的强度在成年马的 VNSE 中较低。每种凝集素的组织化学分析显示，在幼驹和成年马的 VSE 中，各种糖缀合物存在于受体、支持和基底细胞中。在幼驹和成年马的 VNSE 中也观察到类似的凝集素组织化学模式。总之，这些结果表明，在出生后发育过程中，马 VSE 中 N-乙酰葡萄糖胺（WGA、DSL、LEL 标记）和半乳糖（RCA120 标记）的水平增加，这表明它们可能影响成年马 VNO 的功能。
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