title: Immunocytochemical localization of basic fibroblast growth factor in the rat pituitary gland.
abstract: Immunohistochemical localization of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was studied in the rat pituitary gland at light and electron microscopic levels using a specific monoclonal antibody. In the anterior lobe, bFGF-immunoreactivity was found mostly in a cell population without secretory granules, which was identified as the folliculo-stellate (FS) cell by its ultra-structure and expression of S-100 protein. The subcellular localization of the immunoreactivity in FS cell was strictly nuclear. Besides the FS cell, a minor cell population containing small granules of 60-100 nm diameter, which seemed to represent immature endocrine cells, was immunostained in the nuclei with the anti-bFGF antibody. In the intermediate lobe, a subpopulation of the S-100 protein-positive cells lining the pituitary cleft was immunoreactive for bFGF. These results imply that the agranular cell types are the main producer and/or target of rat pituitary bFGF, and that bFGF may play a role in the differentiation of pituitary endocrine cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshitake
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iseki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D009418:S100 Proteins; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2