IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF CATECHOLAMINE SYNTHESIZING ENZYMES IN BULLFROG ADRENALS

Abstract

Frog adrenal chromaffin cells have very long processes. These chromaffin cells are scattered in cortical lipid cells and sometimes in summer cells. By immunofluorescent method, we first confirmed tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) -positive, dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) -positive, phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) -positive adrenaline cells, and TH-positive, DBH-positive, PNMT-negative noradrenaline cells in frog adrenal glands. The activities of TH, DBH and PNMT in the adrenals of the bullfrogs were 215, 22905 and 302 pmoles/min/mg protein, respectively.Acidophilic summer cells have neither TH, DBH nor PNMT. These results were reconfirmed by fluorescence microspectrophotometry.