Effect of ultrasound on major salivary glands. Dynamic of morphological changes in rat salivary glands

Morphology of rat submandibular salivary glands was examined before and after 10 sessions of ultrasonic treatment focused onto the gonial angle of the mandibular bone. The employed ultrasound protocol induced adaptive reactions and induced no degenerative and inflammatory processes. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 144, No. 11, pp. 586–589, November, 2007     

Ontogeny of guanylin-immunoreactive cells in rat salivary glands

Guanylin-like peptides regulate electrolyte/water transport through the epithelia. Moreover, these peptides possess antiproliferative activity and regulate the turnover of epithelial cells. In an earlier study we localized guanylin immunoreactivity in secretory ducts of adult rodent salivary glands. In this study we investigated the appearance and distribution pattern of this peptide during the development of rat salivary glands. Guanylin immunoreactivity appeared at the beginning of cell differentiation from solid bud, on embryonic day 17 in the submandibular and sublingual glands and after day 18 in the parotid gland. Guanylin immunoreactivity appeared first in ductal and acinar anlage: its cell distribution pattern and fate differed in these two compartments. In the duct cells guanylin immunoreactivity spread after the duct system developed, whereas in acinar cells it disappeared after cell differentiation. The guanylin immunoreactivity we detected in adult salivary duct cells accords with guanylins role in regulating electrolyte and water transport through the various epithelia. It does so by activating guanylate cyclase-C receptor, increasing intracellular cGMP concentration, and phosphorylating the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein by the cGMP-dependent protein kinase II. This signaling cascade couples to the ductal electrolyte/water secretion and modulates finally the electrolyte composition of the saliva. On the other hand, CFTR is also involved in mechanisms of cell growth, by regulating apoptosis, and promoting cell differentiation. The early diffuse guanylin immunoreactivity we observed in ducts and acinar anlage, before the secretory set is operative, suggests guanylin has a role in cell differentiation.     

Compensatory increase in choline acetyltransferase activity in salivary glands and diaphragm muscle of the rat.

When the function of salivary glands was abolished by applying ligatures to their ducts and the function of one half of the diaphragm muscle was abolished by sectioning of its phrenic nerve, the choline acetyltransferase activity was found to be increased in not duct-ligated glands and in the intact hemidiaphragm 4 weeks later. The increase was not seen within the first week. The increase in activity appears to be particularly manifested in the nerve endings, since it was seen in the hemidiaphragm but not in the phrenic nerve. Increased stream of impulses in the efferent nerves is thought to be the cause of this increase in choline acetyltransferase activity.     

Immunohistochemistry of myoepithelial cells during development of the rat salivary glands

 Using a battery of monoclonal antibodies specific for rat proteins, immunohistochemistry was carried out on the developing myoepithelial cells (MECs) of the rat major salivary glands. The proteins examined were α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), h1-calponin (calponin), keratin 14 (K14), β subunit of S-100 protein (S-100β), vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The MECs exhibited immunoreactivity for αSMA, calponin and K14, but not that for S-100β, vimentin and GFAP. Immunoreactivity for αSMA appeared in the MECs from the time when the microfilaments were initially deposited in these cells, i.e., at 20 days in utero in the sublingual and submandibular glands and at birth in the parotid gland. Calponin immunoreactivity was seen 1 day earlier than αSMA. The appearance was almost at the same time as the onset of the MEC differentiation in each gland. A small number of the MECs expressed weak K14 immunoreactivity from the time when the acinus-intercalated duct structure was established, i.e., at 21 days in utero in the sublingual gland, at 5 days after birth in the perotid gland and after 5 weeks post-natally in the submandibular gland. In addition, K14 immunoreactivity was observed in the basal cells of the striated and excretory ducts. The first appearance of K14 in these cells again coincided with the emergence of the duct system in each gland, i.e., at 20 days in utero in the sublingual gland, at 21 days in utero in the submandibular gland and at 3 days after birth in the parotid gland. Finally, the MECs in all the glands were found to redistribute as the acini matured. As the acini grew rapidly during the weaning period in the parotid and the sublingual glands, the MECs ceased to surround the acini. Thereafter, they disappeared from the acini in the parotid gland, whereas they reappeared in the sublingual gland. In the submandibular gland, the MECs were confined to the terminal tubules until 4 weeks after birth. Thereafter, the acini were established and invested by the MECs. In conclusion, immunohistochemistry of calponin and αSMA is a useful tool for identification of the MEC during its earliest differentiation, which has hitherto been possible only electron microscopically. In addition, it is suggested that the MEC is heterogeneous and the functionally differentiated MEC appears after weaning around acini of the mucous and seromucous glands. Accepted: 11 January 1999