1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Morphological characterization of the pacemaker cells of the gut motility
| Project/Area Number |
07670625
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Gastroenterology
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
KOMURO Terumasa School of Human Sciences, Waseda Univ., Professor, 人間科学部, 教授 (20037386)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1995 – 1997
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| Keywords | intestine / pacemaker / intersitial cells of Cajal / c-kit / myenteric plexus / smooth muscle / ultrastructure / immunohistochemistry |
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| Research Abstract |
The aim of this research project is to clarify cytological characteristics of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) which have been proposed to be pacemaker cells in the intestinal peristalsis.
1995- : ICC of the guinea-pig small intestine are studied by using the zinc iodide-osmic acid method (ZIO) which is believed to co-stain nerves and ICC.It is demonstrated that ZIO-positive cells have the same fine structural features as those of fibroblasts, They are observed in association with the deep muscular plexus, within the outer circular muslce layer and in the myentric regions. It is concluded that these ZIO-positive cells represent at least some, if not all, of the interstitial cells which appeared in the original description by Cajal.
1996- : It is revealed that the myenteric ICC of the guinea-pig small intestine visualized with ZIO staining are immunopositive to both anti-c-kit protein and anti-vimentin antibodies and constitute an independent cellular network from the myenteric plexus. T
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hey are connected with each other by gap junctions at tips of the cytoplasmic processes. It is concluded that the myenteric ICC of the guinea-pig intestine are fibroblastic cells and that they correspond to the c-kit expressing cells regarded as the intestinal pacemaker.
1997- : ICC in different tissue layers in different levels of the digestive tract is studied by using the Ws/Ws mutant rats and their normal sublings whose mutant animals lack the c-kit receptor and shows abnormal intestinal motility. The cells characterized by many mitochondria and caveolae, dissapear in the circular muscle layer of the stomach and the colon of the Ws/Ws rats, whereas similar feature of cells are observed in the deep muscular plexus of the small intestine as those in the control. On the other hand, the myenteric ICC dissapear throughout the stomach, the small intestine and the colon in the Ws/Ws rats, in contrast to their regular distribution in the control. It is concluded that ICC are heterogenous and play different roles in the gastrointestinal motility. Less
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