title: Expression of immunoreactive activin A in fetal rat pancreas.
abstract: Expression of activin A in fetal rat pancreas was studied immunohistochemically by using anti-activin A antibody. On embryonic day 12 (E12), cells in cap-like pancreatic anlage were stained with anti-activin A antibody. In these sections, no immunoreactive insulin or glucagon was observed. On E13.5, cells containing immunoreactive activin A were observed in pancreatic anlage. These cells were also stained by both anti-glucagon and anti-insulin antibodies. On E15, a cluster of cells could be recognized as a primitive islet. In the primitive islet, cells containing immunoreactive activin A were observed. Activin-positive cells were located mainly in the mantle of the primitive islet but some were located in the core of the primitive islet. These activin-positive cells also expressed glucagon. Among them, cells also containing insulin were observed. In addition to activin-positive cells, cells containing only insulin were detected in the core of the primitive islet. These results indicate that immunoreactive activin A is expressed in fetal pancreas. The expression of activin A is an early event during the development of pancreatic endocrine cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eto
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kojima
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005934:Glucagon / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007265:Inhibins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D010179:Pancreas / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D028341:Activins; D007265:Inhibins; D005934:Glucagon