Immunohistochemical localization of collagenase inhibitor in bovine dental pulp, pulp cells in monolayer culture, and in some oral connective tissues.

The development of an antiserum, monospecific to the collagenase inhibitor, from bovine dental pulps permitted localization of immunoreactive inhibitor protein, by means of both immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase-staining techniques in sections of bovine dental pulps. The immunoreactive inhibitor protein in bovine dental pulps is present both in cells and extracellular matrices. When cultured in Eagle minimal essential medium, coronal pulps from bovine-unerupted teeth were shown, by assay of the medium, to produce only about 1/10 of the amount of inhibitor produced by the root pulps. When compared by immunohistochemical observation, however, essentially no differences in fluorescent activity was found between coronal and root pulps. Specific cytoplasmic staining was seen both in explanted root-pulp tissues and in immature fibroblast-like pulp cells from monolayer cell cultures of bovine root pulps, which indicate that the pulp cells are responsible for inhibitor production. Sections of dental follicle and gingiva from the same animal, showed a distribution of immunoreactive inhibitor protein similar to that in dental pulps.