Expression of keratin 14 in the basal cells of the lingual epithelium of mice during the morphogenesis of filiform papillae: visualization by fluorescent immunostaining and confocal laser-scanning microscopy in the transmission mode.

We examined the expression of keratin 14 (K14) on the lingual epithelium by immunofluorescent staining while monitoring morphological changes in the filiform papillae of mice by confocal laser-scanning microscopy in the transmission mode of the same sections to define both the histology and the morphology of cells. It is difficult to visualize histological details of the fetal lingual epithelium of the mouse on semi-ultrathin sections by light microscopy after immunohistochemical staining because the histological structures in such sections cannot be distinguished by standard counterstaining. To solve this problem and to visualize the immunoreactivity specific for K14, we analyzed the results of immunofluorescent staining of semi-ultrathin sections in combination with an examination of the corresponding images by laser-scanning microscopy in the transmission mode after staining of specimens with toluidine blue. No immunoreactivity specific for K14 was detected on the lingual epithelium of fetuses on embryonic day 15 (E15), but immunoreactivity was distinct at all postnatal stages from postnatal day 0 (P0) to P21.