Summary
An immunohistochemical, light- and electron-microscopial study was made of the pars distalis in adult tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii). The pars distalis of this marsupial mammal was divided into three regions, based on the distribution of cell types within the gland. Somatotropic, mammotropic, luteotropic, folliculotropic, corticotropic and thyrotropic cells were identified on the basis of their immunohistochemistry, cytology and ultrastructure. Non-granulated (folliculo-stellate) cells, identified in electron micrographs, were found throughout the pars distalis. Somatotropic cells were predominant in the posterior pars distalis in all animals examined. In the single male specimen and in the non-lactating females examined, small numbers of apparently inactive mammotropic cells were scattered throughout the pars distalis; the same cell type was apparently active and present in considerable numbers in lactating females. Only one morphological type of gonadotropic cell was evident; these cells were scattered throughout the pars distalis, but in largest numbers in the median region. Small numbers of thyrotropic cells were found, most commonly in the anterior pars distalis. Corticotrops were also observed in moderate numbers, predominantly in the anterior regions of the pars distalis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aguado LI, Schoebitz K, Rodríguez SM (1981) Intercellular channels in the pars tuberalis of the rat hypophysis and their relationship to the subarachnoid space. Cell Tissue Res 218:345–354
Baker BI (1974) Functional cytology of the hypophysial pars distalis and pars intermedia. In: Sawyer WH, Knobil E (eds) Handbook of physiology, section 7, endocrinology, vol 4, American Physiological Society, Washington, pp 45–80
Baker BL, Yu YY (1977) An immunocytochemical study of human pituitary mammotropes from fetal life to old age. Am J Anat 148:217–240
Batten TFC, Hopkins CR (1978) Discrimination of LH, FSH, TSH and ACTH in dissociated porcine anterior pituitary cells by light and electron microscope immunocytochemistry Cell Tissue Res 192:107–120
Bauer TW, Moriarty CM, Childs CV (1981) Studies of immunoreactive gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) in the rat anterior pituitary. J Histochem Cytochem 29:1171–1178
Bona Gallo AB, Licht P, Farmer SW, Papkoff H, Hawkins J (1978) Fractionation and biological actions of pituitary gonadotropins from a marsupial, the wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Biol Reprod 19:680–687
Catling PC, Sutherland RL (1980) Effect of gonadectomy, season and the presence of female tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) on concentration of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone in the plasma of female tammar wallabies J Endocrinol 86:25–33
Chang NG, Nikitovitch-Winer MB (1976) Correlation between suckling-induced changes in the ultrastructure of mammotrophs and prolactin release. Cell Tissue Res 166: 399–406
Childs GV, Ellison DG (1980) A critique of the contributions of immunoperoxidase cytochemistry to our understanding of pituitary cell function, as illustrated by our current studies of gonadotropes, corticotropes and endogenous pituitary GnRH and TRH. Histochem J 12:405–418
Childs (Moriarty) GV, Ellison DG, Garner LL (1980) An immunocytochemist's view of gonadotropin storage in the adult male rat: cytochemical and morphological heterogeneity in serially sectioned gonadotropes. Am J Anat 158:397–409
Dacheux F (1978) Ultrastructural localization of gonadotrophic hormones in the porcine pituitary using the immunoperoxidase technique. Cell Tissue Res 191:219–232
Dacheux F (1980) Ultrastructural immunocytochemical localization of prolactin and growth hormone in the porcine pituitary. Cell Tissue Res 207:277–286
Dacheux F (1981a) Ultrastructural localization of corticotropin, β-lipotropin, and α-and β-en-dorphin in the porcine anterior pituitary. Cell Tissue Res 215:87–101
Dacheux F (1981b) Ultrastructural localization of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in the porcine gonadotrophic cells. Cell Tissue Res 216:143–150
Dacheux F (1981c) Evidence for FSH-like material in ACTH granules of certain corticotropic cells in the pituitary of the pig. Cell Tissue Res 217:497–503
Dacheux F, Dubois MP (1976) Ultrastructural localization of prolactin, growth hormone and luteinizing hormone by immunocytochemical techniques in the bovine pituitary. Cell Tissue Res 174:245–260
Dacheux F, Dubois MP (1978) LH-producing cells in the ovine pituitary. Cell Tissue Res 188:449–463
Dearden NM, Holmes RL (1976) Cyto-differentiation and portal vascular development in the mouse adenohypophysis. J Anat (Lond) 121:551–569
Deslex P, Rossi GL, Probst D (1976) Ultrastructural study of the adenohypophysis of the Chinese hamster. Acta Anat 96:34–54
Duello TM, Halmi NS (1979) Ultrastructural-immunocytochemical localization of growth hormone and prolactin in human pituitaries. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 49:189–196
Dupouy JP, Magre S (1973) Ultrastructure des cellules granulées de l'hypophyse foetale du rat. Arch Anat Microsc Morphol Exp 62:185–205
El Etreby MF, Dubois MP (1980) The utility of antisera to different synthetic adrenocorticotrophins (ACTH) and melanotrophins (MSH) for immunocytochemical staining of the dog pituitary gland. Histochemistry 66:245–260
El Etreby MF, El Bab MRF (1977) Localization of gonadotrophic hormones in the dog pituitary gland. A study using immunoenzyme histochemistry and chemical staining. Cell Tissue Res 183:167–175
Evans SM, Tyndale-Biscoe CH, Sutherland RL (1980) Control of gonadotrophin secretion in the female tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). J Endocrinol 86:13–23
Farmer SW, Papkoff H (1974) Studies on the anterior pituitary of the kangaroo. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 145:1031–1036
Farmer SW, Licht P, Bona Gallo A, Mercado-Simmen R, DeLisle FE, Papkoff H (1981) Studies on several marsupial anterior pituitary hormones. Gen Comp Endocrinol 43:336–345
Girod C (1976) Etat actuel des connaissances sur Ia description morphologique et la signification fonctionelle des cellules antéhypophysaires. Lyon Méd 236:323–357
Girod C, Lhéritier M (1981) Ultrastructure des cellules folliculostellaires de la pars distalis de l'hypophyse chez le spermophile (Citellus variegatus Erxleben), le graphiure (Graphiurus murinus Desmaret), et le hérisson (Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus). Gen Comp Endocrinol 43:105–122
Girod C, Dubois MP, Trouillas J (1980) Mise en évidence de cellules gonadotropes dans l'adénohypophyse (pars distalis et pars tuberalis) du singe Macacus irus. Etude en immunofluorescence à l'aide d'anticorps anti-β FSH humaine et anti-β LH ovine. CR Séan Soc Biol 174:304–315
Hassaini M, Roos J (1976) Ultrastructural changes of pituitary gonadotropic cells in estrogentreated pregnant rats. Cell Tissue Res 175:73–84
Hearn JP (1974) The pituitary gland and implantation in the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii. J Reprod Fertil 39:235–241
Hearn JP (1975) Hypophysectomy of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii: Surgical approach and general effects. J Endocrinol 64:403–416
Herbert DC (1976) Immunocytochemical evidence that luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) are present in the same cell type in the Rhesus monkey pituitary gland. Endocrinology 98:1554–1557
Herbert DC (1978) Identification of the LH and FSH-secreting cells in the pituitary gland of the rhesus monkey. Cell Tissue Res 190:151–161
Herbert DC (1980) Morphology of the mammotrophs and gonadotrophs in the anterior pituitary gland of rats with protein-calorie malnutrition. Am J Anat 158:521–531
Inoue K, Kurosumi K (1981) Mode of proliferation of gonadotrophic cells of the anterior pituitary after castration-immunocytochemical and autoradiographic studies. Arch Histol Jpn 44:71–85
Kawarai Y (1981) Cell identification in rat anterior pituitary with the comparative light-and electron-microscopic immunohistochemical technique on adjacent thin and thick sections. Acta Histochem Cytochem 14:376–382
Kurosumi K, Oota Y (1968) Electron micrsocopy of two types of gonadotrophs in the anterior pituitary glands of persistent estrous and diestrous rats. Z Zellforsch 85:34–46
Leatherland JF, Renfree MB (1982) Ultrastructure of the nongranulated cells and morphology of the extravascular spaces in the pars distalis of the adult and pouch young tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Cell Tissue Res, in press
Leatherland JF, Ronald K (1976) Structure of the adenohypophysis in juvenile harp seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus. Cell Tissue Res 173:367–382
Leatherland JF, Ronald K (1978) Structure of the adenohypophysis in parturient female and neonate harp seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus. Cell Tissue Res 192:341–357
Migally N (1981) The effect of cyproterone acetate on the mouse adenohypophysis. II. Gonadotrophs and somatotrophs. Arch Androl 6:127–132
Moriarty GC (1973) Adenohypophysis: ultrastructural cytochemistry. A review. J Histochem Cytochem 21:855–894
Moriarty GC, Tobin RB (1976a) Ultrastructural immunocytochemical characterization of the thyrotroph in rat and human pituitary. J Histochem Cytochem 24:1131–1139
Moriarty GC, Tobin RB (1976b) An immunocytochemical study of TSB storage in rat thyroidectomy cells with and without D or L thyroxine treatment. J Histochem Cytochem 24:1140–1149
Nogami H, Yoshimura F (1980) Prolactin immunoreactivity of acidophils of the small granule type. Cell Tissue Res 211:1–4
Nogami N, Yoshimura F (1982) Fine structural criteria of prolactin cells identified immunohistochemically in the male rat. Anat Rec 202:261–274
Okino H, Matsui S, Shioda S, Nakai Y, Kurosumi K (1979) Ultrastructural and morphometric studies on the rat pituitary thyrotrophs and thyroid follicular cells following administration of thyrotropin releasing hormone. Arch Histol Jpn 42:489–505
Ortmann R, Griesbach WE (1958) The cytology of the pars distalis of the wallaby pituitary. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci 36:609–618
Phifer RF, Midgley AR, Spicer SS (1973) Immunohistologic and histologic evidence that follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormones are present in the same cell types in the human pars distalis. J Clin Endocrinol 36:125–141
Pruves HD, Sirett NH (1950) Hormone content of pars anterior of wallaby pituitary. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci 37:271–278
Renfree MB, Wallace GI, Young IR (1982) Effects of progesterone, oestradiol-17β and androstenedione on follicular growth after removal of the corpus luteum during lactational and seasonal quiescence in the tammar wallaby. J Endocrinol 92:397–403
Shiino M (1979) Morphological changes of pituitary gonadotrophs and thyrotrophs following treatment with LH-RH or TRH in vitro. Cell Tissue Res 202:399–406
Shiino M, Fujihara N, Rennels EG (1979) Maintenance of gonadotrops in pituitary autographs under the kidney capsules of female rats given sex hormones or LRH. Am J Anat 158:433–444
Siperstein ER, Miller KJ (1973) Hypertrophy of the ACTH-producing cell following adrenalectomy: A quantitative electron microscopic study. Endocrinology 93:1257–1258
Stefan Y (1976) Demonstration of the existence of a single morphological type of gonadotrophic cell in Ellobius lutescens (Microtinae) by an ultrastructural analysis of their development under various physiological and experimental conditions. Cell Tissue Res 167:49–64
Sternberger LA, Hardy PH Jr, Cuculis JJ, Meyer HG (1970) The unlabeled antibody enzyme method of immunohistochemistry. Preparation and properties of soluble antigen-antibody complex (horseradish peroxidase — anti-horseradish peroxidase) and its use in identification of spirochetes. J Histochem Cytochem 18:315–333
Sutherland RL, Evans SM, Tyndale-Biscoe CH (1980) Macropodid marsupial luteinizing hormone: validation of assay procedures and changes in concentration in plasma during the oestrus cycle in the female tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). J Endocrinol 86:1–12
Thompson SA, Trimble JJ (1976) Immunohistochemical localization of prolactin cells of the pars distalis in the fetal and neonatal hamster. Cell Tissue Res 168:161–175
Tongard C, Picart R, Tixier-Vidal A (1980) Electron-microscopic cytochemical studies on the secretory process in rat prolactin cells in primary culture. Am J Anat 158:471–490
Tyndale-Biscoe CH, Evans SM (1980) Pituitary-ovarian interactions in marsupials. In: Schmidt-Nielsen K (ed) Comparative physiology — primitive mammals, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 259–268
Uei Y, Kanzaki M (1976) Ultrastructure of the “non-pathologic” human pituitary gland. Acta Pathol Jpn 26:191–203
Vila-Porcile E (1972) Le réseau des cellules folliculo-stellaires et les follicles de l'adénohypophyse du rat (pars distalis). Z Zellforsch 129:328–369
Yamashita K (1972) Fine structure of the mouse anterior pituitary maintained in a short-term incubation system. Z Zellforsch 124:465–478
Yashiro T, Nogami H, Yoshimura F (1981) Immunohistochemical study of the postnatal development of pituitary thyrotrophs in the rat, with special reference to cluster formation. Cell Tissue Res 216:39–46
Yoshimura F, Nogami H (1981) Fine structural criteria for identifying rat corticotrophs. Cell Tissue Res 219:221–228
Yoshimura F, Soji T, Sato S, Yokoyama M (1977) Development and differentiation of rat pituitary follicular cells under normal and some experimental conditions with special reference to an interpretation of renewal cell system. Endocrinol Jpn 24:435–449
Yoshimura F, Nogami H, Shirasawa N, Yashiro T (1981) A whole range of fine structural criteria for immunohistochemically identified LH cells in rats. Cell Tissue Res 217:1–10
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The study was supported by a travel grant and a grant-in-aid of research from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada to J.F.L., and grants from the Australian Research Grants Committee and the National Institute of Health, U.S.A. to M.B.R. We are indebted to Dr. J.C. George for providing access to electron microscope facilities and Mrs. Lucy Lin for her assistance at various stages of the study. The antisera used in the study were generously donated by Dr. A.F. Parlow, N.I.A.M.D.D., University of California, Los Angeles, California, Dr. P. Lowry, Pituitary Hormone Unit, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and Dr. H. Papkoff, University of California, San Francisco, California, to whom we are indebted. The pituitary hormones were attained from the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leatherland, J.F., Renfree, M.B. Structure of the pars distalis in the adult tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Cell Tissue Res. 229, 155–174 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217888
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217888