Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural characterization of mammosomatotrope-, growth hormone-, and prolactin-cells from the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata l., Teleostei): an ontogenic study

Growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and mammosomatotrope (MS) cells of gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, a teleost fish, were studied in specimens from hatching to 15 months (adults) using conventional electron microscopy and an immunogold method using anti-tilapia GH sera and anti-chum salmon PRL serum. MS cells, immunoreactive to both anti-GH sera and anti-PRL sera, had been first identified in fish in a previous study in newly hatched larvae and in older larvae and juvenile specimens of Sparus aurata by light microscopic immunocytochemistry. In the present work, MS cells reacted positively to immunogold label only in older larvae and juveniles and their secretory granules immunoreacted with both GH and PRL antisera or with only one of them. MS cells were ultrastructurally similar to the PRL cells, with which they coincided in time. This is the first report on the ultrastructural characterization of MS cells in fish. In adults, the secretory granules of GH cells (immunoreactive to anti-GH serum) were mainly round, of variable size, and had a homogeneous, highly electron-dense content. Irregularly shaped secretory granules were also present. PRL cells (immunoreactive to anti-PRL serum) were usually observed in a follicular arrangement; they showed few, small, and mainly round secretory granules with a homogeneous and high or medium electron-dense content. Some oval or elongated secretory granules were also observed. GH and PRL cells that showed involutive features were also found. In newly hatched larvae, GH, PRL, and MS cells could not be distinguished either by their ultrastructure or by the immunogold labeling of the secretory granules. In 1-day-old larvae, presumptive GH and PRL cells were observed according to their position in the pituitary gland. In 2-day-old larvae, a few cells showed some of the ultrastructural features described for GH and PRL cells of adults. During development, the number, size, and shape of the secretory granules in both cell types clearly increased and the organelles developed gradually. Some GH cells were found undergoing mitosis.