Ultrastructural localization of nerve terminals containing nitric oxide synthase in rat adrenal gland.
Immunoelectron microscopy was performed to localize immunoreactivity for nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in rat adrenal gland. NOS-immunoreactive (NOS-ir) nerve fibers were observed around blood vessels and endocrine cells in the zona glomerulosa of the cortex. Electron microscopy showed that NOS-ir axon varicosities were in close contact with the smooth muscles of blood vessels and with the cytolemma of endocrine cells. In the adrenal medulla, several NOS-ir ganglion cells were found. Synaptic contacts between non-immunoreactive axons and dendrites of NOS-ir neurons were observed. NOS-ir nerve fibers were distributed among chromaffin cells. Positive axon varicosities were in close contact with the catecholamine-storing chromaffin cells. These results suggest that NOS-ir nerve cells control directly the secretion of corticosteroid and catecholamine in addition to the vascular tone.
Tanaka
K
K
Third Department of Anatomy, Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan.tanaka@med.m.chiba-u.ac.jp
Chiba
T
T
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000201:enzymology / Q000294:innervation*; D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000201:enzymology / Q000294:innervation*; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002838:Chromaffin System / Q000201:enzymology / Q000294:innervation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016610:Tissue Embedding
D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase