Immunohistochemical localization of tonin in rat salivary glands and kidney.

Tonin has been localized in salivary glands and kidney by the indirect immunofluorescence technique of Coons and by the unlabeled antibody technique of Sternberger. Both techniques gave identical results. Immunoreactive tonin was localized in the cytoplasm of granular convoluted tubular cells and on the apical surface of striated duct cells and collecting duct cells of the submandibular gland. In the parotid and sublingual glands, which lack granular cells, tonin was only found on the apical surface of striated duct and collecting duct cells. In the kidney, immunoreactive tonin was found only associated with cells of the distal convoluted tubules. After fixation with Bouin fluid or with ethanol, tonin was found not only on the apical surface of the cells but also in the apical and perinuclear cytoplasm. This cytoplasmic staining has been attributed to artefactual diffusion since, after fixation with formol-picric acid, the enzyme could only be localized on the apical surface of the tubular cells.