Summary
A small group of granulated endocrine cells have been described in the endostylar region of the pharynx in Styela. These cells are argyrophilic and exhibit calcitonin-like immunofluorescence. Tests with antisera to other peptides all proved negative. Cells from animals exposed to elevated calcium levels showed a degree of degranulation. The possibility that these cells may represent ancestral ultimobranchial “C” cells is discussed.
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The authors are very grateful to Julia Polak and Susan Van Noorden, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, for the kind gift of all antisera used. Animals were collected by courtesy of Mr. David Houghton and his staff of the Admiralty Marine Trials Station, Portsmouth. This research was carried out during the tenure of SRC grant no. B/RG 82919 to one of us (M.C.T.) — The localization of polypeptide hormones in the pharynx and gut of protochordates
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Thorndyke, M.C., Probert, L. Calcitonin-like cells in the pharynx of the ascidian Styela clava . Cell Tissue Res. 203, 301–309 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237244
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237244