title: Intercellular communications within the rat anterior pituitary XI: an immunohistochemical study of distributions of S-100 positive cells in the anterior pituitary of the rat.
abstract: The distribution of the S-100 protein cell (folliculo-stellate cell) is very important to our understanding of the regulation of the anterior pituitary. In this study, 10 intact 60-day-old male Wistar-Imamichi rats, were separated equally into two groups. One was used for immunohistochemical study, and the other for electron microscopic analysis. Immunostained pituitary sections with S-100 protein antibody were photographed using a CCD camera equipped with a computer. The S-100 protein cells were then measured using NIH image software, and the three-dimensional distribution of the cells was analyzed. The distribution of the cells observed in each serial section showed that S-100 protein cells were dense at the basal zone of the gland and at the "transitional zone" where the pars tuberalis adjoined the anterior and intermediate lobes, where they represented over 50% of the total cell population. They then decreased in number with distance from this region to mid-way towards the sagittal axis before increasing again in the tail of the gland. The population of cells also decreased with increasing distance from the "transitional zone" to the wing and with distance from the basal zone. Portal vessels entered the anterior lobe through the "transitional zone" as thick capillaries, ran through the basal surface and penetrated into the central area of the anterior lobe. In all planes, S-100 protein cells encircled the capillaries. Ultrastructural observations confirmed the light microscopic findings indicating that clusters of agranular cells were densely located at the "transitional zone" and in the pars tuberalis. The distribution pattern of the folliculo-stellate cells and the capillaries showed good agreement and the spatial relationship between these two is detailed so as to better understand hypophyseal histophysiology.
authors.affiliation: Functional Morphology, Nagoya City University Medical Science, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi 467-8601, Japan. soji_t@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Goro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shirasawa
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Damon C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009418:S100 Proteins