Lawson W
Laryngoscope. 1980 Jan;90(1):120-44. doi: 10.1288/00005537-198001000-00014.
Although the carotid body is an established chemoreceptor, there is considerable evidence also for its possessing a secretory function. While adrenergic neuroendocrine cells of neuroectodermal derviation exist in the central and autonomic nervous systems, the exact histogenesis of the mammalian carotid body is unsettled. The normal human carotid body and glomus jugulare tumor have been grown in tissue culture and their constituent cells have been observed to transform from epithelial to neuronoid appearing cells with extensive dendritic processes. This conversion has been further enhanced by the addition of nerve growth factor, a polypeptide specific for neural tissue. Electron microscopy confirmed that these culus cell. Histofluorescence revealed that these in vitro cells continued to synthesize and store biogenic monoamines in culture. Comparison of the morphologic, ultrastructural and histochemical features of the glomus cell with established neuroendocrine cells (central nervous system neurons, sympathetic ganglia cells, chromaffin cells) shows striking similarities. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that the glomus cell is a modified neuron of neural crest origin. The embryology, electron microscopy and histochemistry of the carotid body and related glomera and their tumors are reviewed.
虽然颈动脉体是一种公认的化学感受器，但也有大量证据表明它具有分泌功能。虽然神经外胚层衍生的肾上腺素能神经内分泌细胞存在于中枢和自主神经系统中，但哺乳动物颈动脉体的确切组织发生仍未确定。正常人类颈动脉体和颈静脉球瘤已在组织培养中生长，并且观察到它们的组成细胞从上皮细胞转变为具有广泛树突状突起的类神经元细胞。通过添加神经生长因子（一种对神经组织特异的多肽），这种转变进一步增强。电子显微镜证实了这些细胞。组织荧光显示这些体外培养的细胞在培养中继续合成和储存生物源性单胺。将球细胞的形态学、超微结构和组织化学特征与已确定的神经内分泌细胞（中枢神经系统神经元、交感神经节细胞、嗜铬细胞）进行比较，显示出惊人的相似性。基于这些发现，得出结论：球细胞是神经嵴起源的改良神经元。本文对颈动脉体及相关小球及其肿瘤的胚胎学、电子显微镜和组织化学进行了综述。
