Pancreastatin-like immunoreactivity in epidermal Merkel cells of pig and man.

By use of light microscopic immunohistochemistry it was shown that Merkel cells of pig and man stained for pancreastatin. In pig, evaluation of paired consecutive sections revealed a coexistence of pancreastatin and chromogranin A (CGA) in individual Merkel cells from all localisations. However, in man pancreastatin expression was variable and depended from the localization and the developmental stage. The present findings suggest that pancreastatin is not specific for the pancreas and the intestine. However, it remains to be elucidated whether pancreastatin is a widely distributed in peptide-containing neuroendocrine granules of cells of the diffuse neuroendocrine system (DNES) as has been established for CGA.