Abstract
The submandibular gland (SMG) of newborn mice has no mature acini but has the rudiments of acini called terminal tubules (TT). The TT are composed of TT cells with dark secretory granules and proacinar cells with lighter secretory granules, the latter being considered the immediate precursor of mature acinar cells. TT cells contain a specific secretory protein, submandibular gland protein C (SMGC) and they decrease in number postnatally at a higher rate in males than in females. In the present study, in order to clarify the biological roles of TT cells and their secretory product SMGC, we generated a knockout (KO) mouse strain deficient in SMGC. The KO mice of both sexes grew normally, had normal reproductive capacity and had normal acinar and duct systems in the SMG in adult ages. However, through the neonatal and early postnatal stages, the KO mice were deficient not only in the production of SMGC but also in TT cells. With electron microscopy of the SMG of newborn KO mice, TT cells with characteristic granules were absent and replaced by undifferentiated ductal cells, whereas proacinar cells were normal. These results suggested that the absence of SMGC inhibits the development of TT cells and that the absence of SMGC and TT cells has no notable influence on the postnatal development of the acinar and duct systems in the SMG.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Shuichi Yamazaki and Yoshitake Shiraishi for their technical assistance in producing paraffin and epon sections, respectively.
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This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 17K08510 to SI.
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All applicable international, national and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The present animal research protocols were approved by the Committee for Animal Experiments in Kanazawa University (approval number: AP-183926).
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Nakata, H., Terakawa, J., Horike, Si. et al. The lack of terminal tubule cells in the submandibular gland of mice deficient in submandibular gland protein C. Cell Tissue Res 381, 229–237 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-020-03205-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-020-03205-w