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Ultrastructural identification of granules containing oxytocin and vasopressin

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Abstract

OXYTOCIN and vasopressin, the hormones of the mammalian hypothalamo–neurohypophysial complex, are synthesised in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei and are secreted into the blood stream from the neuro-hypophysis. It is now thought that the two hormones are produced in both nuclei, but are stored, together with their corresponding neurophysins, in distinct neurosecretory granules located in separate perikarya and axons, on the basis of data from various species including fish, reptiles, birds and mammals1–4. This study describes cytochemical experiments carried out on tissue from normal rats and from rats homozygous for hereditary diabetes insipidus (Brattle-boro strain) that support this view and allow a tentative identification of the two granule types.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Histologie I, Faculté de Médecine, 13385, Marseille, France

    F. TASSO & D. PICARD

  2. Département de Physiologie, Ecole de Médecine, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland

    J. J. DREIFUSS

Authors
  1. F. TASSO
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  2. D. PICARD
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  3. J. J. DREIFUSS
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TASSO, F., PICARD, D. & DREIFUSS, J. Ultrastructural identification of granules containing oxytocin and vasopressin. Nature 260, 621–622 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/260621a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/260621a0

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