Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-4-7
pubmed:abstractText
Previous studies have shown that pinealocytes of the gerbil pineal gland exhibit processes that form terminal swellings filled with abundant electron-lucent microvesicles. The membrane of these presumptive secretory microvesicles is known to contain synaptophysin, a major integral glycoprotein of neuronal synaptic vesicles. The present study was conducted to evaluate the microtopographical relationships between the vesicle-rich process swellings and intra-pineal nerve terminals. For this purpose, both nerve terminals and pinealocyte process endings were visualized immunohistochemically in the same semi-thin sections of plastic-embedded gerbil pineals, using antibodies directed against synaptophysin. This approach consistently revealed close spatial associations of punctate immunopositive nerve endings with intensity stained bulbous process terminals of pinealocytes in or near the perivascular spaces. The light-microscopic observations of intimate neuronal-pinealocytic relationships were corroborated at the electron-microscopic level. Perivascular varicosities with ultrastructural features characteristic of sympathetic nerve terminals were frequently juxtaposed to vesicle-filled process endings of pinealocytes. Analysis of serial thin sections showed that multiple point-to-point contacts are encountered between noradrenergic nerve terminals and pinealocytic process swellings. Our morphological findings imply that bulbous process terminals, at least in the gerbil pineal gland, are major targets for the neuronal control of the secretory activity of pinealocytes.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0742-3098
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
15
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
199-207
pubmed:dateRevised
2003-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1993
pubmed:articleTitle
Close microtopographical relationships between sympathetic nerve terminals and bulbous process endings of pinealocytes in the pineal gland of the Mongolian gerbil.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Anatomy, Hannover Medical School, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article