Cellular and subcellular distribution of laminin in adult rat anterior pituitary.

Following the immunodetection of laminin in basal laminae and within some glandular cells of adult rat pituitary (Tougard et al., 1985: In Vitro 21:57), the present work had a double purpose: (a) adjustment of optimal conditions to detect laminin at both the cellular and subcellular level with an immunoperoxidase pre-embedding procedure, and (b) identification of the hormonal specificity of the laminin-containing cells, based on development of a "two-step" method combining the pre- and post-embedding approaches. In addition to extracellular localizations (basal laminae and connective tissue compartment), laminin was detected intracellularly within membrane-bounded compartments in all endocrine cell types and in the folliculo-stellate cells. It was found in rough endoplasmic reticulum cisternae, in a few Golgi saccules, and in vesicles or vacuoles. Labeled secretory granules were observed in gonadotrope, thyrotrope, and corticotrope cells but were very scarce in prolactin cells and absent in somatotrope cells. In addition, exocytotic profiles of labeled granules were frequent, suggesting a granular pathway for laminin export. Labeled vesicles, heterogeneous in size and shape, were observed mostly in prolactin cells. They might represent either a vesicular pathway for laminin export or an endocytic route for membrane-bounded laminin. These results bring complementary data to the concept that epithelial cells elaborate their basement membranes (Pierce and Nakane, 1967: Lab Invest 17:499). Moreover, the subcellular distribution of laminin within organelles involved in the biosynthesis, transport, and even in the storage of secretory products suggests that laminin might be exported by glandular pituitary cells according to different pathways.