Histochemical Detection of Glycoconjuagates in Chicken Colonic Epithelium with a Specific Horseradish Peroxidase Conjuagated Lectin

Abstract

Chicken colons were stained with a battery of seven horseradish peroxidase-conjugated lectins : Ricnus communis agglutinin-I (RCA-I) peanut agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin, Ulex europaeus agglutinin, Limax fiavus agglutinin, Dolichos biflorus agglutinin, and Pisum sativum agglutinin. Lectin staining revealed striking differences in the structure of oligosaccharides between intracellular secretory glycoconjugates in goblet cells and in columnar cells. The mucous granules of goblet cells were found to contain glycoconjugates with sialic acid-galactose dimer, α-D-mannose, α-D-glucose, N-acety-D-glucosamine and β-D-galactose residues. In contrast, terminal or internal N-acety-D-glucosamine and terminal galactose-N (1-3)-acety-D-galactosamine disaccharides were detected in supranuclear region of the columner cells. The striated border of the colonic columnar cells were also found to contain glycoconjugates similar in reactivity to those of the goblet cells. The existence of glycoconjugates with various saccharide residues in colonic epithelium of the chicken is reported for the first time in this study.