Histochemical, Lectin-Histochemical and Morphometrical Characteristics of Intestinal Goblet Cells of Germfree and Conventional Mice.

Abstract

Histochemical, lectin-histochemical and morphometrical studies were carried out on intestinal goblet cells of 8-week-old germfree (GF) and conventional (CV) mice of the BALB/c strain. Except for the reactivity of cecal goblet cells to Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) and Ulex europeus-I agglutinin (UEA-I), there was no difference between GF and CV mice in histochemical and lectin-histochemical properties. In the cecal mucosa, DBA stained the goblet cells strongly in CV mice but not in GF mice and UEA-I stained the goblet cells strongly in the lower part of crypts in CV mice but only faintly in GF mice. These findings suggest that terminal residues of cecal goblet cell mucin were different in GF and CV mice. Morphometrically, cecal goblet cells were fewer in number and smaller in size in GF mice than in CV mice. In addition, high iron diamine-alcian blue staining made a very clear border between the cecum and colon, because cecal goblet cells were exclusively positive for sulfomucin and colonic goblet cells were predominantly positive for sialomucin.

Mucin-bacterial interactions in the human oral cavity and digestive tract

“…The epithelium of germ-free mice differs morphologically from that of conventionally raised animals: non-degraded mucin is found in feces, their goblet cells are smaller and less abundant, the colonic mucus layer is approximately two times thicker and the weight of the cecum can reach up to eight times that of conventional animals. [81][82][83][84] The swelling of the cecum in germ-free animals is due to the accumulation of mucus, and the resulting retention of water, due to the absence of mucin-degrading bacteria. 85 In addition, when fecal suspensions or pure cultures of Clostridium, Bacteroides or Peptococcus were introduced into germ-free rodents, the cecum showed a striking reduction to its normal weight, 86,87 suggesting the beneficial workings of mucin-degrading bacteria.…”

Roles of M cells in infection and mucosal vaccines

“…69 However, UEA-1 lectin also reacted strongly with other issues, such as goblet cells and the mucus layer covering the intestinal epithelium. 70 Reovirus surface protein s 1 (ps1) ps1 has the ability to bind M cells, which facilitates reovirus infection via ps1. A genetic fusion between ovalbumin (OVA) and ps1 was applied nasally, to enhance tolerogen uptake.…”

Establishment of a Poliovirus Oral Infection System in Human Poliovirus Receptor-Expressing Transgenic Mice That Are Deficient in Alpha/Beta Interferon Receptor

“…It is highly possible that the incorporated virus starts to replicate in these epithelial cells. To further clarify which kinds of cells incorporate the virus from the intestinal cavity, fluorescently labeled UEA-1 (specific for ␣-L-fucose residues) was used, since UEA-1 has been shown to possess high affinity for selected intestinal epithelial cells, including mouse microfold (M) cells and goblet cells (4,17). As shown in Fig.…”