TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterisation of gastric ghrelin cells in man and other mammals
T2 - Studies in adult and fetal tissues
AU - Rindi, Guido
AU - Necchi, Vittorio
AU - Savio, Antonella
AU - Torsello, Antonio
AU - Zoli, Michele
AU - Locatelli, Vittorio
AU - Raimondo, Francesca
AU - Cocchi, Daniela
AU - Solcia, Enrico
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Ghrelin is a new gastric peptide involved in food intake control and growth hormone release. We aimed to assess its cell localisation in man during adult and fetal life and to clarify present interspecies inconsistencies of gastric endocrine cell types. A specific serum generated against amino acids 13-28 of ghrelin was tested on fetal and adult gastric mucosa and compared with ghrelin in situ hybridisation. Immunogold electron microscopy was performed on normal human, rat and dog adult stomach. Ghrelin cells were detected in developing gut, pancreas and lung from gestational week 10 and in adult human, rat and dog gastric mucosa. By immunogold electron microscopy, gastric ghrelin cells showed distinctive morphology and hormone reactivity in respect to histamine enterochromaffin-like, somatostatin D, glucagon A or serotonin enterochromaffin cells. Ghrelin cells were characterised by round, compact, electrondense secretory granules of P/D1 type in man (mean diameter 147±30 nm), A-like type in the rat (183±37 nm) and X type in the dog (273±49 nm). It is concluded that, ghrelin is produced by well-defined cell types, which in the past had been labelled differently in various mammals mostly because of the different size of their secretory granule. In man ghrelin cells develop during early fetal life.
AB - Ghrelin is a new gastric peptide involved in food intake control and growth hormone release. We aimed to assess its cell localisation in man during adult and fetal life and to clarify present interspecies inconsistencies of gastric endocrine cell types. A specific serum generated against amino acids 13-28 of ghrelin was tested on fetal and adult gastric mucosa and compared with ghrelin in situ hybridisation. Immunogold electron microscopy was performed on normal human, rat and dog adult stomach. Ghrelin cells were detected in developing gut, pancreas and lung from gestational week 10 and in adult human, rat and dog gastric mucosa. By immunogold electron microscopy, gastric ghrelin cells showed distinctive morphology and hormone reactivity in respect to histamine enterochromaffin-like, somatostatin D, glucagon A or serotonin enterochromaffin cells. Ghrelin cells were characterised by round, compact, electrondense secretory granules of P/D1 type in man (mean diameter 147±30 nm), A-like type in the rat (183±37 nm) and X type in the dog (273±49 nm). It is concluded that, ghrelin is produced by well-defined cell types, which in the past had been labelled differently in various mammals mostly because of the different size of their secretory granule. In man ghrelin cells develop during early fetal life.
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Ghrelin
KW - Immunohistochemistry
KW - In situ hybridisation
KW - P/D cells
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U2 - 10.1007/s00418-002-0415-1
DO - 10.1007/s00418-002-0415-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 12107501
AN - SCOPUS:0036085711
VL - 117
SP - 511
EP - 519
JO - Histochemistry and Cell Biology
JF - Histochemistry and Cell Biology
SN - 0948-6143
IS - 6
ER -