College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Oct 11;20(1):463. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04307-1.
Telocytes (TCs) is a novel type of interstitial cells in many mammals organs, which participate in the organizational metabolism, mechanical support, immunomodulation and other aspects. The aim of this study was to explore the organizational chemical characteristics of TCs in pituitary gland and their changes in cryptorchid yaks.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), toluidine blue staining, immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and Western blotting may enable us to understand TCs distribution characteristics and biological functions.
TEM confirmed the presence of TCs in the pituitary gland with small bodies and moniliform telopodes (Tps). The Tps extending out from the cell body to the peri-sinusoidal vessels spaces, the number of Tps is closely related to the morphology of the nucleus. The most obvious changes of TCs in the pituitary gland of cryptorchid yaks is the Tps are relatively shorter and decreased secretory vesicles. H.E. and toluidine blue staining revealed that TCs not only distributed between the sinusoidal blood vessels and the glandular cell clusters, but also present on the surface of vascular endothelial cells. The co-expression of TCs biomarkers, such as Vimentin/CD34, CD117/CD34 and α-SMA/CD34, were evaluated by immunofluorescence to further determine the phenotypic characteristics of TCs. Besides, we analyzed the mRNA and protein expression of these biomarkers to determine the characteristics of TCs changes and possible biological roles. Both the mRNA and protein expression of CD117 were significantly higher in the pituitary gland of cryptorchid yaks than in the normal (p < 0.01), the protein expression of CD34 in the cryptorchid yaks was significantly higher than the normal (p < 0.01). There were no significant difference in mRNA expression of Vimentin and α-SMA (p>0.05), while the protein expression were significantly increased in the normal yaks (p < 0.05).
In summary, this study reports for the first time that the biological characteristics of TCs in yak pituitary gland. Although there is no significant change in the distribution characteristics, the changes in biological features of TCs in cryptorchid yaks are clear, suggesting that TCs participated in alteration in the local microenvironment of the pituitary gland. Therefore, our study provides clues for further investigating the role of TCs in the pituitary gland during the occurrence of cryptorchidism in yaks.
间质细胞（TCs）是许多哺乳动物器官中的一种新型间质细胞，参与组织代谢、机械支持、免疫调节等方面。本研究旨在探讨TCs在垂体组织中的化学特征及其在隐睾牦牛中的变化。
透射电镜（TEM）、甲苯胺蓝染色、免疫荧光、qRT-PCR 和 Western blot 可能使我们了解 TCs 的分布特征和生物学功能。
TEM 证实了垂体中存在具有小体和念珠状 telopodes（Tps）的 TCs。Tps 从细胞体延伸到窦周血管空间，Tps 的数量与核的形态密切相关。隐睾牦牛垂体中 TCs 的最明显变化是 Tps 相对较短且分泌小泡减少。H.E.和甲苯胺蓝染色显示，TCs 不仅分布在窦状血管和腺细胞簇之间，而且也存在于血管内皮细胞表面。通过免疫荧光评估 TCs 生物标志物（如 Vimentin/CD34、CD117/CD34 和 α-SMA/CD34）的共表达，进一步确定 TCs 的表型特征。此外，我们分析了这些生物标志物的 mRNA 和蛋白表达，以确定 TCs 变化的特征和可能的生物学作用。CD117 的 mRNA 和蛋白表达在隐睾牦牛垂体中均显著高于正常（p<0.01），CD34 的蛋白表达在隐睾牦牛中也显著高于正常（p<0.01）。Vimentin 和 α-SMA 的 mRNA 表达无显著差异（p>0.05），而蛋白表达在正常牦牛中显著增加（p<0.05）。
综上所述，本研究首次报道了牦牛垂体中 TCs 的生物学特征。虽然分布特征没有明显变化，但隐睾牦牛 TCs 的生物学特征变化明显，提示 TCs 参与了隐睾牦牛垂体局部微环境的改变。因此，我们的研究为进一步研究 TCs 在牦牛隐睾发生过程中在垂体中的作用提供了线索。
