To understand potential mechanisms explaining interindividual variability observed in human sweat sodium concentration ([Na(+)]), we investigated the relationship among [Na(+)] of thermoregulatory sweat, plasma membrane expression of Na(+) and Cl(-) transport proteins in biopsied human eccrine sweat ducts, and basal levels of vasopressin (AVP) and aldosterone. Lower ductal luminal membrane expr...

The study of internal soft tissue with the scanning electron microscope poses special technical problems of fixation, cleaning, and dehydration (3, 4, 6, 7) . For the dried, prepared tissue to be biologically significant, the surface configurations and interrelationships of its constituent cells must be preserved in a state similar to the way they appear in life . At the same time, the tissue s...

The liver of a healthy adult weights 1650 Gm. on the average and it is by far the largest gland in the body. It consists of lobes which vary in size and differ to some extent in the sources of their afferent blood supplies. The liver is encased in a membrane of connective tissue. This extends into the liver at the transverse fissure of the undersurface (porta) in the form of a tree with innumer...

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in sperm maturation during epididymal transit, we intended to isolate secretory molecules that are region-specifically expressed along the epididymis and secreted into the lumen of epididymal ducts. By using differential display screening and DNA sequence analyses, we isolated a rat bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) possessing a si...

The mammary gland is composed of a diverse array of cell types that form intricate interaction networks essential for its normal development and physiologic function. Abnormalities in these interactions play an important role throughout different stages of tumorigenesis. Branching ducts and alveoli are lined by an inner layer of secretory luminal epithelial cells that produce milk during lactat...

In combination with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and immunohistochemistry for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were carried out on the intraepithelial nerve fibers of the guinea-pig nasal gland. AChE-positive nerve profiles and VIP-immunoreactive nerve profiles were detected in abundance within the epithelium ...

Morphologic changes in the male reproductive system of mongrel dogs immunized against LHRH were quantitated using linear measurements and morphometric techniques at the light-microscopic level. Two experimental groups (5 nonimmunized control animals and 5 actively immunized animals) were killed 12 weeks after the primary immunization. No significant differences were observed between three immun...

Physiological and pharmacological studies have demonstrated that extracellular ATP, acting through P2Y(2) purinoceptor, modulates water permeability of renal medullary collecting duct cells and the secretion of ions, mucin, and surfactant phospholipids by respiratory epithelia. Here we provide direct molecular evidence for the expression of P2Y(2) purinoceptor in these cells. RT-PCR confirmed P...

The important malignant behavior of esophageal cancer is lymph node metastasis of cancer cells through lymphatic ducts, whereas the lymph node metastasis directly affects treatment methods, local recurrence and long-term survival. In recent years, studies on lymphangiogenesis mechanism and regulatory factors in cancer tissue have been a hotspot in tumor research. Some studies have revealed that...

Salivary glands are formed by branching morphogenesis with epithelial progenitors forming a network of ducts and acini (secretory cells). During this process, epithelial progenitors specialise into distal (tips of the gland) and proximal (the stalk region) identities that produce the acini and higher order ducts, respectively. Little is known about the factors that regulate progenitor expansion...