Evidence that somatostatin is localized and synthesized in lymphoid organs

Journal Article · Sun Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.88.24.11485· OSTI ID:5827052

Aguila, M C; McCann, S M ^[1]; Dees, W L; Haensly, W E ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Texas, Dallas (United States)
2. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (United States)

Because several peptides originally found in the pituitary as within the central nervous system have been localized in lymphoid tissues and because somatostatin (somatotropin-release-inhibiting hormone, SRIH) can act on cells of the immune system, the authors searched for this peptide in lymphoid organs. The authors demonstrated that SRIH mRNA exists in lymphoid tissue, albeit in smaller levels that in the periventricular region of the hypothalamus, the brain region that contains the highest level of this mRNA. SRIH mRNA was found in the spleen and thymus of male rats and in the spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius of the chicken. Its localization in the Bursa indicates that the peptide must be present in B lymphocytes since this is the site of origin of B lymphocytes in birds. The SRIH concentration in these lymphoid organs as determined by radioimmunoassay was greater in the thymus than in the spleen of the rat. Fluorescence immunocytochemistry revealed the presence of SRIH-positive cells in clusters inside the white pulp and more dispersed within the red pulp of the spleen of both the rat and the chicken. The thymus from these species also contained SRIH-positive cells within the medulla and around the corticomedullary junction. In the chicken, there were large cluster of SRIH-positive cells in the medullary portion of each nodule of the bursa of Fabricius. The results indicate that SRIH is synthesized and stored in cells of the immune system. SRIH may be secreted from these cells to exert paracrine actions that alter the function of immune cells in spleen and thymus.

• OSTI ID: 5827052
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States), Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States) Vol. 88:24; ISSN 0027-8424; ISSN PNASA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550200* -- Biochemistry
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
BIOASSAY
BIOCHEMISTRY
BODY
CHEMISTRY
CYTOCHEMISTRY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DNA
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
GLANDS
IMMUNOASSAY
IMMUNOLOGY
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
MAMMALS
MESSENGER-RNA
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PITUITARY GLAND
RADIOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNODETECTION
RADIOIMMUNOLOGY
RATS
RECOMBINANT DNA
RNA
RODENTS
SOMATOSTATIN
SPLEEN
THYMUS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
VERTEBRATES