Utilizing endocrine secretory pathways in salivary glands for systemic gene therapeutics

The aim of the study was to compare ecological and morphological features and evolutionary dynamics of the salivary glands in representatives of different classes of vertebrates living in different ecological conditions.Material and methods. The glandular structures of the tongue of vertebrates belonging to various taxonomic and ecological groups (fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals) were studied. The material obtained was processed using histological and histochemical methods.The results of the study demonstrated that in the course of the evolutionary transformations of vertebrates, an increase and complication of the glandular structures of the tongue occurred due to changes in the environmental factors and in the nature of nutrition and food consumed. The evolutionary transformations of the glandular structures of the organ was directed from unicellular intraepithelial glandular structures (for example, in fish) to the complex multicellular salivary glands of higher mammals, in which there was a division into terminal secretory sections and secretory pathways. In the course of evolution, the number of functions performed by the salivary glands of the tongue has also increased. The digestive and endocrine functions were added to the function of protecting the mucous organ from damage. The serous glands of the tongue are phylogenetically younger. Their occurrence is associated with the participation of the glands of the tongue in the initial stages of chemical food processing. The preservation of more ancient mucous glands against the background of the emergence of new organisms in the course of evolution - mucoserous, seromucous and serous glands, - indicates that in the course of evolutionary development, the glandular structures of the tongue demonstrate parallelism of divergent changes.

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Ultrastructural Analysis of the Salivary Glands of Gromphadorhina Portentosa (Schaum)

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100080614 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 35 ◽

pp. 638-639

Author(s):

P.J. Dailey

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽

Salivary Glands ◽

Secretory Vesicles ◽

The Past ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Means Of Transmission ◽

Gromphadorhina Portentosa ◽

Scanning Electron ◽

Topographical Relief

The structure of insect salivary glands has been extensively investigated during the past decade; however, none have attempted scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in ultrastructural examinations of these secretory organs. This study correlates fine structure by means of SEM cryofractography with that of thin-sectioned epoxy embedded material observed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Salivary glands of Gromphadorhina portentosa were excised and immediately submerged in cold (4°C) paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde fixative1 for 2 hr, washed and post-fixed in 1 per cent 0s04 in phosphosphate buffer (4°C for 2 hr). After ethanolic dehydration half of the samples were embedded in Epon 812 for TEM and half cryofractured and subsequently critical point dried for SEM. Dried specimens were mounted on aluminum stubs and coated with approximately 150 Å of gold in a cold sputtering apparatus.Figure 1 shows a cryofractured plane through a salivary acinus revealing topographical relief of secretory vesicles.

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Biogenesis of Catalase-Positive Rods in Excretory Duct Cells of Salivary Glands

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100090294 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 62-63

Author(s):

Dwight K. Romanovicz ◽

Jacob S. Hanker

Keyword(s):

Light Microscopy ◽

Salivary Glands ◽

Submandibular Gland ◽

Excretory Duct ◽

Exocrine Glands ◽

Duct Cells ◽

Peroxidatic Activity ◽

Microscopic Studies ◽

Different Dimensions

The presence of catalase-positive rods (Fig. 1) of different dimensions, which frequently have a crystalline appearance by light microscopy, has been reported. They seem to be related to peroxisomes which were characterized morphologically and cytochemically in parotid and other exocrine glands of the rat by Hand in 1973. Our light microscopic studies of these spherical microbodies and rods of different sizes, stained by virtue of the peroxidatic activity of their catalase, indicate that they are almost entirely confined to the cells of the striated and execretory ducts of the submandibular gland in the mouse. The rods were usually noted only in the proximity of the ductal microbodies. The latter frequently showed a tendency to appear in linear close array, or even to be contiguous (Fig. 2). This suggested that the rods could be formed by the fusion of microbodies.

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An adrenocortical oncocytoma with unusual mitochondrial inclusions and cytoplasmic crystals

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100168980 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 250-251

Author(s):

W.T. Gunning ◽

G.D. Haselhuhn ◽

E.R. Phillips ◽

S.H. Selman

Keyword(s):

Adrenal Gland ◽

Salivary Glands ◽

Mitotic Activity ◽

Diagnostic Criteria ◽

Vascular Invasion ◽

Benign Neoplasm ◽

Benign Tumors ◽

Nuclear Morphology ◽

Case Presentation ◽

Microscopic Evidence

Within the last few years, adrenal cortical tumors with features concordant with the diagnostic criteria attributed to oncocytomas have been reported. To date, only nine reported cases exist in the literature. This report is the tenth case presentation of a presumptively benign neoplasm of the adrenal gland with a rare differentiation. Oncocytomas are well recognized benign tumors of the thyroid, parathyroid, and salivary glands and of the kidney. Other organs also give rise to these types of tumors, however with less frequency than the former sites. The characteristics generally used to classify a tumor as an oncocytoma include the following criteria: the tumor is 1) usually a solitary circumscribed mass with no gross nor microscopic evidence of metastasis (no tissue nor vascular invasion), 2) fairly bland in terms of mitotic activity and nuclear morphology, and 3) composed of large eosinophillic cells in which the cytoplasm is packed full of mitochondria (Figure 1).

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