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The neuroendocrine nature of the glomus cells: An experimental, ultrastructural, and histochemical tissue culture study
Author(s) -
Lawson William
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-198001000-00014
Subject(s) - glomus cell , carotid body , ultrastructure , biology , neural crest , histogenesis , pathology , nervous tissue , immunohistochemistry , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , embryo , stimulation , medicine , immunology
Although the carotid body is an established chemoreceptor, there is considerable evidence also for its possessing a secretory function. While adrenergic neuroendocrine cells of neuroectodermal derivation exist in the central and autonomic nervous systems, the exact histogenesis of the mammalian carotid body is unsettled. The normal human carotid body and glomus jugulare tumor have been grown in tissue culture and their constituent cells have been observed to transform from epithelial to neuronoid appearing cells with extensive dendritic processes. This conversion has been further enhanced by the addition of nerve growth factor, a polypeptide specific for neural tissue. Electron microscopy confirmed that these cultured neoplastic cells had a subcellular architecture identical to the in situ glomus cell. Histofluorescence revealed that these in vitro cells continued to synthesize and store biogenic monoamines in culture. Comparison of the morphologic, ultrastructural and histochemical features of the glomus cell with established neuroendocrine cells (central nervous system neurons, sympathetic ganglia cells, chromaffin cells) shows striking similarities. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that the glomus cell is a modified neuron of neural crest origin. The embryology, electron microscopy and histochemistry of the carotid body and related glomera and their tumors are reviewed.