Lectin histochemistry of the lymphoid organs of the chicken |
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Authors: | Jörns Julia Mangold Ulrich Neumann Ulrich Van Damme Els J M Peumans Willy J Pfüller Uwe Schumacher Udo |
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Affiliation: | (1) Institute for Anatomy II, Experimental Morphology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany;(2) Clinic for Poultry, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, 30559 Hannover, Germany;(3) Laboratory for Phytopathology and Plant Protection, Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium;(4) Department of Phytochemistry, University of Witten/Herdecke, 58448 Witten, Germany |
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Abstract: | Cellular interactions within the immune system are in part mediated via the carbohydrate-rich coat of the cell membrane, the glycocalyx, of which the terminal carbohydrate residues are of particular functional importance. Thus, these carbohydrate residues from thymus, bursa of Fabricius, spleen and bone marrow of 2- and 30-day-old chickens were investigated by lectin histochemistry. In the thymus, mannose as well as N-acetyl-glucosamine (glcNAc)-specific lectins labelled macrophages, epithelial reticulum cells and lymphocytes within the cortex. In the bursa of Fabricius, the brush border of the lining epithelium, the macrophages and the endothelium were labelled by mannose-specific lectins. The follicle-associated epithelium was labelled by a broad spectrum of lectins. Epithelial cells that separated the cortex from the medulla and large mononuclear cells in the cortex were only being labelled by N-acetyl-galactosamine (galNAc)-specific and glcNAc-specific lectins, respectively. In the spleen, lymphocytes of the peri-ellipsoid lymphocyte sheaths and macrophages of the red pulp were labelled by lectins of nearly all sugar specificities. In general, glycotopes of these organs were more intensively labelled in the 2-day-old chicken than in the 30-day-old chicken, indicating changes in glycotope expression during post-hatching development. Thus, cells of the avian immune system are as rich and diverse in their lectin binding sites as their mammalian counterparts, indicating that similar carbohydrate lectin interactions between cells and matrices take place in birds as well. |
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Keywords: | Carbohydrates Lymphocytes M cells Follicle-associated epithelium Peri-ellipsoid lymphocyte sheaths |
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