Summary
The immunocytochemical localisation of motilin in endocrine cells of the mammalian gut has been investigated by the use of a range of regionspecific antisera to both the C- and N-terminal parts of the peptide molecule.
The possibility of motilin being co-stored with serotonin (5-HT) in a subpopulation of enterochromaffin cells was also studied by the use of specific antibodies to 5-HT. Motilin-like immunoreactivity was found exclusively in the mucosal APUD cells of the small intestine in all species investigated. Further characterisation of these cells indicated that antibodies reacting with both the C- and N-terminals immunostain a population of nonargentaffin (argyrophil) cells. In addition, a minor subpopulation of EC cells was immunostained with N-terminal directed antibodies only.
In view of these results it is possible that the non-enterochromaffin cells detected by antibodies directed against both the N- and C-terminals of the motilin molecule are the source of the 22 amino acid motilin originally described. In contrast, the subpopulation of enterochromaffin cells detected only by N-terminal directed antibodies may be the source of a related peptide, yet to be identified. However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the antigenic site on the peptide molecule may be altered when motilin is costored with variable quantities serotonin.
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Dedicated to Professor Hans-Werner Altmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday
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Kishimoto, S., Polak, J.M., Buchan, A.M.J. et al. Motilin cells investigated by the use of region-specific antisera. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 36, 207–218 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02912067
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02912067