| Abstract: | Rat pituitary gland and retina were probed with anti--aspartate (-Asp) antibody previously prepared in this laboratory [Lee et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 231 (1997) 505–508]. -Asp immunoreactivity (IR) was observed only in the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland of 3-day-old rats, whereas the anterior and posterior lobes were also positive in 3-week and 6-week-old rats, respectively. In the anterior lobe, intense IR was scattered throughout the lobe and the -Asp-positive cells appeared to be prolactin-containing cells or some other very closely related type of cell. In the retina, -Asp IR was observed only in the ganglion cell and nerve fiber region of 3-day-old rats. In contrast, during the transient increase in -Asp levels in 7-day-old rats, -Asp IR was additionally evident in regions where differentiating bipolar cells had begun to make contact with other types of cells. The functional relevance of -Asp localization in these tissues is discussed. |
