Summary
The subcommissural organ (SCO) of 7 human fetuses, 3 to 6.5 months old, was investigated by means of: (i) immunocytochemistry employing three different antisera against secretory products extracted from the bovine SCO and Reissner's fiber; (ii) lectin binding using concanavalin A (Con A; affinity: mannose, glucose), wheat-germ agglutinin (WGA; affinity: N-acetyl-glucosamine, sialic acid), and Limax flavus agglutinin (LFA; affinity: sialic acid). Sections of bovine SCO were processed simultaneously and examined for comparative purposes. The human fetal SCO displayed lectin-binding properties identical to those in the SCO of other mammals. Thus, Con-A-binding sites were restricted to abundant supranuclear structures that most likely corresponded to the rough endoplasmic reticulum, but were missing from granules located in the apical cytoplasm. The latter secretory material was strongly WGA- and LFA-positive and formed a distinct zone in the most apical portion of the ependymal cells. In contrast, this type of reactivity was missing in the adjacent cells of ependyma proper. In the bovine SCO, LFA-positive granules were also aggregated in an apical layer. The secretory material in the bovine SCO, especially its apical granular component, was strongly immunoreactive with the three antisera used; the human fetal SCO, however, lacked this immunoreactivity. It is postulated that the SCO of human fetuses secretes glycoproteins with a carbohydrate chain similar to-and a protein backbone different from-the secretions elaborated by the SCO of other vertebrate species.
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In memoriam Professor Helmut Hofer, pioneer and master in the field of circumventricular organs
Supported by Grant I/63-476 from the Volkswagen-Stiftung, Federal Republic of Germany to E.M.R. and A.O.; Grant 0890/88 from FONDECYT Chile, to E.M.R.; and Grant S-89-01 from the Dirección de Investigaciones, Universidad Austral de Chile. The authors are grateful to the staff members of the Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valdivia Regional Hospital, for their valuable cooperation, and to Ms. Inge Lyncker, Giessen, and Ms. Elizabeth Santibáñez, Valdivia, for their aid in preparing this manuscript
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Rodríguez, E.M., Garrido, O. & Oksche, A. Lectin histochemistry of the human fetal subcommissural organ. Cell Tissue Res 262, 105–113 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327751
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327751