Observation of basal cells in the olfactory epithelium after axotomy

Abstract

In the olfactory epithelium of mice, cytokeratin was present in the basal cells but not in the olfactory cells. Our previous study using antikeratin antibodies showed that the basal cells were columnar or pyramidal in shape in the early postnatal period, but became flat in adult mice. In this study, structural changes of the basal cells after axotomy were investigated by immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The unilateral olfactory nerves of adult mice were sectioned at the level of the lamina cribrosa. The mice were sacrificed 4, 8-10, and 14 days postoperatively. The olfactory mucosae were removed, frozen with freon 22, and cut on a cryostat at 10 μm. The sections were stained by the PAP method using a PAP kit. The antikeratin antibody (PKK 2) against pig kidney epithelial cell line, which reacts with 40, 46, 48, and 54 kd subunits (Immunotech), was used. To label the dividing cells, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was administered to mice each postoperative day 1 hour before sacrificing. The presence of BrdU was detected imrnunohistochemically using anti-BrdU antibody (Becton-Dickinson).