The Ductus Epididymis of the Alpaca: Immunohistochemical and Lectin Histochemical Study

Abstract

Our objective was to characterize epithelial cells lining the epididymal duct (caput, corpus, cauda) of the alpaca using AE1/AE3 cytokeratin antibodies and a battery of different lectins: Con-A, UEA-I, LTA WGA, GSA-II, GSA-IB4, SBA, PNA, ECA, DBA, MAL-II and SNA. Sialidase digestion and deglycosylation pre-treatments were also employed. The principal cells (PCs) along the epididymis showed differences in immunostaining patterns toward keratin antibodies. Lectin histochemistry demonstrated variations in the content and distribution of glycosidic residues of glycoconjugates in different epididymal regions. In particular, staining of the Golgi zone in the epithelial PCs was interpreted as evidence for synthesis and secretion of O- and N-linked oligosaccharides. In the caput, the apical mitochondria-rich cells contained mainly beta-GalNAc, subterminal alpha-GalNAc, alpha-Gal and Neu5Ac alpha2,3Gal residues. Conversely, in the corpus they were particularly rich in alpha-GalNac and beta-Gal-(1-3)-d-GalNAc linked to sialic acid moieties. Basal cells mainly expressed beta-GalNAc and alpha-Gal in the caput, alpha-Gal in the corpus and alpha-Fuc and beta-GalNAc in the cauda. The differences in immunostaining patterns and in lectin histochemistry in the alpaca epididymis reported in this investigation seem to be related to regional differences in function.

Innervation and Immunohistochemical Characteristics of Epididymis in Alpaca Camelid (Vicugna Pacos)

“…These cells were reported in the initial epididymal segments in men (Fraile et al, 1996) and in other mammalian species (Martìnez-Garcìa et al, 1995). In the alpaca, they were observed to contain lectins and were postulated to regulate epididymal ionic composition and intraluminal pH (Parillo et al, 2009b).…”

“…There are several studies describing male genital tract of alpacas. In particular, Parillo et al (2009aParillo et al ( , 2009bParillo et al ( , 2012 reported a detailed distribution of glycosidic residues of glycoconjugates in the epidydimis, testis and spermatozoa. Wang et al (2011) reported that NGF is espressed in the testis of alpaca .…”

Changes in lectin-binding sites on epididymal cells during postnatal development of the mouse

“…Therefore, they have been widely used in histochemical analysis for the detection of sugar chains and the characterization of cell populations in the epididymis in species including humans (Arenas et al, 1996(Arenas et al, , 1998 (Calvo et al, 1995), horses (Parillo et al, 1997), boars (Calvo et al, 2000), dogs (Schick et al, 2009), and alpacas (Parillo et al, 2009). It has been shown that various sugar chains are abundant in the epithelial cells of the developing mouse epididymis (Bendahmane and Abou-Haila, 1997).…”

Immunolocalisation of nitric oxide synthase isoforms in the ductuli efferentes and epididym

“…2F). The apical mitochondria-rich cells (AMRCs), that we previously described in the alpaca epididymis [10], expressed nNOS in the caput ( Fig. 2A) and corpus (Fig.…”