Calcitonin is expressed in the submaxillary glands of rats

Yongli Zhang,Sheli Li,Zhaoying Fu,Baoli Li

doi:10.17305/bjbms.2014.2294

Yongli Zhang, Sheli Li + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.17305/bjbms.2014.2294

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Abstract

Calcitonin is usually produced by the parafollicular cells of the thyroid. However in an immunohistochemistry experiment we observed that the cells of the serous acini of rat submaxillary gland tissue were stained positive with calcitonin antibodies. We further used immunocytochemistry and nucleic acid hybridization to localize the distribution of calcitonin protein and calcitonin mRNA respectively in cultivated cells of rat submaxillary glands. The results showed that the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells of the submaxillary glands had positive staining in immunocytochemistry using calcitonin monoclonal antibody and positive reaction in nucleic acid hybridization using calcitonin mRNA complementary DNA probe. For the first time we found that the cells of the submaxillary glands of rats can produce the hormone calcitonin.

Highlights

In recent years, researchers have discovered and extracted more than various bioactive substances in the submaxillary glands [ - ]
In doing an immunohistochemistry examination with calcitonin antiserum, we accidently observed a positive staining in the rat tissue of submaxillary glands, which suggested that the submaxillary glands might secrete calcitonin
Immunohistochemistry with anti-calcitonin antibody demonstrated calcitonin positive cells in rat submaxillary gland The immunohistochemistry results of rat submaxillary gland tissue with anti-calcitonin monoclonal antibody revealed calcitonin positive staining cells in the submaxillary glands of the rats, which was manifested as brown color

Summary

Introduction

Researchers have discovered and extracted more than various bioactive substances in the submaxillary glands [ - ] These bioactive substances were either secreted directly into the blood or secreted first into the digestive tract with saliva and enter the blood stream through gastrointestinal absorption; they exert regulatory roles on multiple tissues and cells to adjust their physiological activities [ , ]. Some of these factors fully meet the standards of hormone, and it was put forward that they have dual functions of endocrine and exocrine [ , ].

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