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Evidence of solitary chemosensory cells in a large mammal: the diffuse chemosensory system in Bos taurus airways
Author(s) -
Tizzano Marco,
Merigo Flavia,
Sbarbati Andrea
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1469-7580
pISSN - 0021-8782
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00617.x
Subject(s) - immunocytochemistry , biology , chemoreceptor , taste , tongue , pathology , transduction (biophysics) , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , medicine , genetics , receptor , biophysics
The diffuse chemosensory system (DCS) of the respiratory apparatus is composed of solitary chemosensory cells (SCCs) that resemble taste cells but are not organized in end organs. The discovery of the DCS may open up new approaches to respiratory diseases. However, available data on mammalian SCCs have so far been collected from rodents, the airways of which display some differences from those of large mammals. Here we investigated the presence of the DCS and of SCCs in cows and bulls ( Bos taurus ), in which the airway cytology is similar to that in humans, focusing our attention on detection in the airways of molecules involved in the transduction cascade of taste [i.e. α‐gustducin and phospholipase C of the β2 subtype (PLCβ2)]. The aim of the research was to extend our understanding of airway chemoreceptors and to compare the organization of the DCS in a large mammal with that in rodents. Using immunocytochemistry for α‐gustducin, the taste buds of the tongue and arytenoid were visualized. In the trachea and bronchi, α‐gustducin‐immunoreactive SCCs were frequently found. Using immunocytochemistry for PLCβ2, the staining pattern was generally similar to those seen for α‐gustducin. Immunoblotting confirmed the expression of α‐gustducin in the tongue and in all the airway regions tested. The study demonstrated the presence of SCCs in cows and bulls, suggesting that DCSs are present in many mammalian species. The description of areas with a high density of SCCs in bovine bronchi seems to indicate that the view of the DCS as made up of isolated cells totally devoid of ancillary elements is probably an oversimplification.

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