Rat Sublingual Glands Research Articles

HISTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES IN SALIVARY AND EXORBITAL LACRIMAL GLANDS.

AbstractComparison of results obtained by S35O4= autoradiography with those from histochemical staining methods and evaluation of the effect on the staining resulting from prior sialidase digestion, methylation, methylation and saponification, or sulfation, substantiates the selectivity of some procedures for sialomucin and others for sulfomucin. These two types of mucopolysaccharide may be differentiated by the high iron diamine‐alcian blue or aldehyde fuchsin‐alcian blue sequences or comparison between staining with the alcian blue pH 2.5‐PAS sequence and staining with the alcian blue pH 1.0‐PAS method. These techniques reveal that some rodent or lagomorph salivary glands form sialomucin alone, others apparently only sulfomucin, whereas a number produce both types of acid mucopolysaccharide either in different mucous cells throughout the gland or in the same cell.Differences in affinity for basic dyes, periodate reactivity, and susceptibility to elimination of basophilia by methylation or enzymatic digestion are evident among both the sulfo‐ and the sialomucins in different glands. After brief saponification the sialomucin in rat sublingual glands becomes sialidase digestible and gains alcohol resistant metachromasia.Several serous or seromucous glands secrete neutral mucopolysaccharides; others secrete polysaccharides containing sulfate or sialic acid groups whose affinity is masked for some but not for other basic dyes.

A HISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF HYPOPHYSECTOMY-INDUCED CHANGES IN RAT SUBMANDIBULAR AND SUBLINGUAL GLANDS.

A HISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF HYPOPHYSECTOMY-INDUCED CHANGES IN RAT SUBMANDIBULAR AND SUBLINGUAL GLANDS.

Studies of sialic acid-containing mucins in bovine submaxillary and rat sublingual glands.

Sialic acid present in some salivary mucins could be removed from tissue sections by mild acid hydrolysis. Bovine submaxillary glands, incubated in acid medium prior to staining, did not show any metachromasia or alcianophilia, whereas the periodic acid Schiff reaction was diminished but not eliminated. When influenza virus neuraminidase was utilized, the results were essentially the same as those obtained after mild hydrolysis. Chemical studies confirmed the histochemical results. It was found that when submaxillary mucin underwent acid hydrolysis, sialic acid was easily split off without further breaking of the mucin molecule. When proteolytic enzymes were employed, the acini could not be stained by any of these methods. These results with proteolytic enzymes are interpreted as due to a fragmentation and solubilization of the mucin molecule. Different results were obtained for rat sublingual glands. Acid hydrolysis removed the safranin O metachromasia as well as the alcianophilic material, but the time and temperatures needed were different from those for bovine submaxillary tissue. The periodic acid Schiff staining properties did not change. The same difference was noted when proteolysis was utilized, and the time required for complete digestion of the acinar content was three times greater than for bovine tissue. Furthermore, influenza virus neuraminidase had no effect on the rat gland sections. The present data suggest that the use of mild acid hydrolysis and of proteolysis applied to tissue sections containing high amounts of sialic acid can be a useful tool in practical histochemical techniques for studies on sialomucins.