• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide in the primary lymphoid organs of the duck Anas platyrhynchos
  • Contributor: Squillacioti, Caterina; Mirabella, Nicola; De Luca, Adriana; Paino, Giuseppe
  • Published: Wiley, 2006
  • Published in: Journal of Anatomy, 209 (2006) 1, Seite 51-58
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00592.x
  • ISSN: 1469-7580; 0021-8782
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: AbstractThe expression of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) was studied in the thymus and bursa of Fabricius of the duck Anas platyrhynchos, at different ages, using immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, RT‐PCR and sequencing. In the thymus, PACAP immunoreactivity (‐ir) was found in lymphoid cells. CD68/ and PGP 9.5/PACAP38 double labelling showed that PACAP was not expressed either in macrophages or in epithelial cells, suggesting that the PACAP‐positive cells observed were lymphoid cells. Immunoreactive lymphocytes were observed in the interlobular septa. They increased in number with ageing. In the bursa, PACAP‐ir was found in nerve fibres and in a few lymphoid cells. RT‐PCR revealed PACAP mRNA expression in the thymus but not in the bursa. These results suggest that PACAP plays a role in the functions of the immune system in birds.
  • Access State: Open Access