Morphology of cat vomeronasal organ non-sensory epithelium during postnatal development

Abstract

The vomeronasal organ has an important role in mammal's social and sexual behaviours. In addition, it mediates defensive behavior through detection of protein pheromone homologues. In this work, a detailed morphological description of the postnatal development of the non-sensory epithelium (NSE) lining the vomeronasal duct (VND) of the female cat is provided using various histological techniques. The study focused on newborn, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks of postnatal ages using four animals for each age. We report here for the first time that three types of NSE line the rostral segment of the VND; nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium, stratified cuboidal epithelium, and ciliated pseudo stratified columnar ciliated epithelium with goblet cells and that the VND undergoes 90° a change in its its axis from the vertical position caudally to the horizontal position rostral. The NSE which lines the lateral side of the VND middle segment is consists of cliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium without goblet cells. In addition to basal cells, the NSE contains ciliated and three types of nonciliated columnar epithelial cells (dark, light, and unstained). Mitotic figures were observed only in the basal cells layer during the first 2 weeks of postnatal development. Intraepithelial invading inflammatory cells were uncommon. Scanning electron microscopy revealed unevenly distributed long cilia intermingled with microvillar processes and intervening short microvillar processes. These projecting cilia and microvilli revealed a gradual increase in their height during development toward maturity.

Following the p63/Keratin5 Basal Cells in the Sensory and Non-sensory Epithelia of The Vomeronasal Organ

“…Performing immunolabeling against p63 and ki67 in P21 animals, we found, in line with what was described in other species (Elgayar et al ., 2017), that, in postnatal animals, the proliferative cells of the NSE are, for the most part, basal progenitors (Fig 5A). These observations made us wonder if 1) the p63+ basal progenitors are the stem cells of the NSE and 2) if p63 basal cells could also be a source of other cell types in the VNO.…”

Vomeronasal Receptors Associated with Circulating Estrogen Processing Chemosensory Cues in Semi-Aquatic Mammals

“…In mammals, due to multiple behavioral and reproductive strategies, the morphological characteristics of the VNO as well as the reaction to pheromones in the VNS are different in different species [ 2 , 38 , 39 ]. The VNO of hedgehogs consists of hyaline cartilage, a capsule and epithelial lumen soft tissue with an incisive duct directly into the nasal and oral epithelium, suggesting that odorants are mainly received through the nasal and oral cavity in the VNO of hedgehogs [ 14 ].…”

Morfologia do órgão vomeronasal da paca (Cuniculus paca Linnaeus, 1766)

“…O órgão vomeronasal foi descrito, pela primeira vez, em 1813 pelo anatomista dinamarquês Ludvig Jacobson (Mucignat-Caretta, 2010). Este órgão é um receptor químico do sistema vomeronasal, envolvido na detecção de feromônios e apresenta relação com os comportamentos reprodutivos, sociais e de defesa (Roslinski et al 2000, Elgayar et al 2017. Nos mamíferos, está localizado na base do septo do osso vômer, apresentando epitélio sensorial e um mecanismo semelhante a uma bomba que banha o órgão com muco (Mucignat-Caretta, 2010).…”