Ontogeny of epidermal growth factor receptor/kinase and of lipocortin-1 in the ovine lung.
We have examined the ontogeny and distribution of the epidermal growth factor receptor/kinase (EGF receptor) and of lipocortin-1, a major cellular substrate of the EGF receptor, in a developmental series of 13 normal ovine fetal lungs (44-145 d of gestation) using the peroxidase anti-peroxidase technique with two extensively characterized polyclonal antibodies recognizing the EFG receptor and one polyclonal antibody recognizing lipocortin-1. Immunoreactive EGF receptor/kinase and lipocortin-1 were detected in conducting airway epithelium by the end of the first trimester of pregnancy before bronchial glands could be identified. This was followed at two-thirds of gestation by immunoreactivity in bronchial glands and large bronchioles adjacent to positive bronchi. By seven-eighths of gestation conducting airway epithelium no longer contained consistently detectable immunostaining for EGF receptor, although lipocortin-1 was identified until term in all levels of conducting airways. In contrast, neither EGF receptor nor lipocortin-1 immunoreactivity was detected in alveolar type I or type II epithelial cells, fibrocytes, chondrocytes, smooth muscle, or endothelial cells at any gestational age. These findings suggest that EGF receptor and lipocortin-1 may participate in early airway development.
Johnson
M D
MD
Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232.
Gray
M E
ME
Carpenter
G
G
Pepinsky
R B
RB
Sundell
H
H
Stahlman
M T
MT
D000818:Animals; D017302:Annexins; D004848:Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005325:Fetal Organ Maturity; D005865:Gestational Age; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008168:Lung / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012756:Sheep
D017302:Annexins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D066246:ErbB Receptors