Hirano N, Tanaka S, Shiino M
Department of Anatomy, Wakayama Medical College, Japan.
Acta Anat (Basel). 1996;156(2):87-93.
In order to examine the distribution pattern of alpha- and beta-subunits of glycoprotein hormones in small and large granules in the thyrogonadotrophs of the musk shrew, we used an antiserum against a synthesized peptide consisting of the sequence 37-53 of the rat alpha-subunit, which is highly conservative among several mammalian species, and also antisera to LH beta, FSH beta and TSH beta. Both alpha- and LH beta-subunits were colocalized in what appeared at the light-microscopic level to be the same cells, and the population ratio of alpha- and LH beta-subunit immuno-reactive cells was almost equal within each group of animals. In addition, we also demonstrated thyrogonadotrophs in the infant musk shrew as well as in the adult. Concerning small and large granules in thyrogonadotrophs of the musk shrew, we could observed small granules immunoreactive for only the alpha-subunit, for the LH beta-subunit and for both the alpha- and LH beta-subunits; while only the LH beta-subunit was observed in the large granules and the alpha-subunit was absent. Consequently, we propose that the large granules observed in the thyrogonadotrophs of the musk shrew may be storage sites for beta-subunits and are not secretory-type granules.
为了研究麝鼩促甲状腺性腺激素细胞中小颗粒和大颗粒中糖蛋白激素α亚基和β亚基的分布模式，我们使用了一种针对由大鼠α亚基序列37 - 53组成的合成肽的抗血清，该序列在几种哺乳动物物种中高度保守，还使用了针对促黄体生成素β亚基、促卵泡激素β亚基和促甲状腺激素β亚基的抗血清。α亚基和促黄体生成素β亚基在光镜水平上似乎位于同一细胞中，并且在每组动物中，α亚基和促黄体生成素β亚基免疫反应性细胞的群体比例几乎相等。此外，我们还在幼年和成年麝鼩中证实了促甲状腺性腺激素细胞的存在。关于麝鼩促甲状腺性腺激素细胞中的小颗粒和大颗粒，我们观察到仅对α亚基、促黄体生成素β亚基以及α亚基和促黄体生成素β亚基均有免疫反应的小颗粒；而在大颗粒中仅观察到促黄体生成素β亚基，未观察到α亚基。因此，我们提出在麝鼩促甲状腺性腺激素细胞中观察到的大颗粒可能是β亚基的储存位点，而不是分泌型颗粒。
