Summary
The presence and localization of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the rat adrenal cortex has been demonstrated by immunocytochemical methods at both light and electron microscopic level. C-fos-like immunoreactivity was detected in the zona fasciculata and the zona reticulata, but not in the zona glomerulosa. Ultrastructurally, all products of c-fos-like immunoreaction were localized exclusively in the regions associated with the euchromatin in the nucleus of the immunoreactive cells. Moreover, a higher density of the immunoreactive cells in the adrenal cortex of pregnant rats was found with quantitative immunocytochemistry as compared to the non-pregnant. The characteristic zonation of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the adrenal cortex suggest that the c-fos protein is involved in the normal function of the glucocorticoid-producing cells of mammalian adrenals. The numerical increase in the immunoreactive cells in pregnant rats implies that basal expression of the c-fos-like protein may vary with the functional state of the cortical cells.
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Yang, G., Koistinaho, J., Zhu, S. et al. Light and electron microscopic evidences of the presence of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the rat adrenal cortex. Histochemistry 93, 217–221 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315978
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315978