The appearance and distribution of vaginal antigen during the differentiation of the cervicovaginal epithelium in normal and estradiol-treated mice.

Abstract

AbstractRabbits were immunized with vaginal epithelium from ovariectomized and estradiol‐injected adult mice. A crude IgG solution was prepared from the immune serum and was used for immunofluorescence studies (indirect method) of the appearance of antigen(s) specific for the vaginal epithelium during the differentiation of the cervicovaginal epithelium in neonatal mice. In neonatal untreated mice, the appearance of the antigen could be correlated with the mitotic activity and morphological transformation of the vaginal epithelium.Estradiol injected into neonatal mice had a two‐fold effect: it caused a precocious appearance of visible specific antigen in the untransformed pseudostratified cervicovaginal epithelium; however, in some mice it prevented the appearance of any visible antigen in the cervical epithelium, possibly by way of its inhibiting effect on cell divisions in this region. It is suggested that the epithelial cells must pass a “crucial mitosis” before being able to synthesize the antigen.The distribution of the antigen was also studied in immature and adult ovariectomized and estradiol injected mice. Estradiol strongly increased the small amount of antigen seen in the superficial cell layer of ovariectomized animals.