Open AccessPotential role of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 2 alpha in secretory activity of endocrine cells in mouse adenohypophysis
Author(s) -
Claudius Luziga
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
open veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2226-4485
pISSN - 2218-6050
DOI - 10.4314/ovj.v9i2.4
Subject(s) - cytotoxic t cell , biology , cathepsin , cathepsin d , antigen , prohormone , medicine , endocrinology , enteroendocrine cell , secretion , cathepsin l , t lymphocyte , immunohistochemistry , proteolytic enzymes , hormone , endocrine system , immunology , in vitro , biochemistry , enzyme
The peptide hormones of the adenohypophysis are produced by proteolytic processing of their prohormone precursors. Cathepsin L is known to function as a major proteolytic enzyme involved in the production of the peptide hormones. The structure of the propeptide region of cathepsin L is identical to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-2 alpha (CTLA-2α) which is also shown to exhibit selective inhibitory activities against cathepsin L. However, the specific cell types synthesizing CTLA-2α in mouse adenohypophysis and its functional implications as relevant in vivo have not been demonstrated. In this study, CTLA-2α expression in the adenohypophysis was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. In both male and female mice, strong immunoreactivity was specifically detected in folliculostellate (FS) cells surrounding endocrine cells which were delineated by CTLA-2α. These findings suggest that the CTLA-2α may be involved in the proteolytic processing and secretion of the hormones in the adenohypophysis through regulation of cathepsin L.