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Apoptotic process of porcine intestinal M cells

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Abstract

Membranous (M) cells of the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE) are believed to sample antigens from the gut lumen. However, the origin, differentiation mechanism, and cell death of M cells are still a matter of controversy. Therefore, we investigated the process of M cell differentiation and determined their fate in the intestine of three-way crossbred female pigs. We used anti-cytokeratin 18 and anti-PCNA antibodies to distinguish M cells and proliferative cells and performed immunohistochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, and scanning electron microscopy on fresh ileal Peyer’s patches. Cell migration and apoptotic cells were detected by BrdU labeling and the TUNEL method, respectively. The turnover of the FAE was similar to that of the villi. M cells were mostly observed from the FAE crypt to the FAE periphery, but not in the FAE apex. As proliferative M cells (cytokeratin 18+/PCNA+ cells) have previously been detected in the FAE crypt, porcine M cells may be directly derived from intestinal epithelial stem cells and committed as a distinct cell lineage in the crypts. M cells from the FAE periphery were unstained or only weakly stained for alkaline phosphatase, whereas cytokeratin 18+/alkaline phosphatase+ cells lying near to the FAE apex showed a columnar shape similar to that of adjacent enterocytes. These data suggest that the committed M cells differentiate to mature M cells by contact with lymphocytes at the FAE periphery, and that they trans-differentiate to enterocytes and are finally excluded near the FAE apex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Functional Morphology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, 981-8555, Sendai, Japan

    Kohtaro Miyazawa, Hisashi Aso, Takashi Kanaya, Taketomo Kido, Takeshi Minashima, Kouichi Watanabe, Shyuichi Ohwada & Takahiro Yamaguchi

  2. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, 981-8555, Sendai, Japan

    Haruki Kitazawa

  3. Institute of Rural Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3AL, UK

    Michael T. Rose

  4. R & D Center, BML, 350-1101, Saitama, Japan

    Koji Tahara & Tadashi Yamasaki

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  1. Kohtaro Miyazawa
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  2. Hisashi Aso
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  3. Takashi Kanaya
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  4. Taketomo Kido
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  5. Takeshi Minashima
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  6. Kouichi Watanabe
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  7. Shyuichi Ohwada
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  8. Haruki Kitazawa
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  10. Koji Tahara
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  11. Tadashi Yamasaki
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  12. Takahiro Yamaguchi
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Correspondence to Hisashi Aso.

Additional information

This investigation was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (16658107) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, by two grants (Prion Project and Secure and Healthy Livestock Farming Project) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and by a grant from the Naito Foundation.

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Miyazawa, K., Aso, H., Kanaya, T. et al. Apoptotic process of porcine intestinal M cells. Cell Tissue Res 323, 425–432 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-005-0086-z

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