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Transient expression of S‐100 by melanotropes of the rat pituitary intermediate lobe during development
Author(s) -
Sands Scott A.,
Gary Keith A.,
Chronwall Bibie M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(95)00037-h
Subject(s) - lobe , neuroscience , expression (computer science) , psychology , biology , anatomy , computer science , programming language
S‐100, an acidic calcium‐binding protein, is co‐localized with vimentin in glial‐like cells in the adult rat pituitary intermediate lobe. S‐100 and melanotrope markers were not co‐localized in the adult. During development, S‐100 and vimentin were not co‐localized but appeared in cells with different morphological characteristics. S‐100 was co‐localized with POMC mRNA and β‐endorphin during prenatal time and the first three postnatal weeks. This was demonstrated by double‐label immunohistochemistry, using combinations of antisera against S‐100, vimentin and β‐endorphin, and in situ hybridization histochemistry for POMC mRNA combined with immunohistochemistry for S‐100. In the second and third weeks of postnatal development, S‐100 was observed in fewer melanotropes and more frequently in stellate cells, which also expressed vimentin. Thus, S‐100 appeared to be transiently expressed in melanotropes during prenatal and early postnatal development. S‐100 serves as a neurotrophic and glial maturation factor in the CNS. Since S‐100 expression in melanotropes coincides with the onset of dopaminergic innervation and morphological changes in glial‐like cells of the lobe, it could have similar functions in the rat pituitary intermediate lobe.