LECTIN HISTOCHEMISTRY ON THE SKIN OF HAIRLESS DESCENDANTS OF MEXICAN-HAIRLESS DOGS

The skin of hairless descendants of Mexican hairless dogs was investig ated lectin-histochemically. Haired dogs were also used for comparativ e study. In the epidermis of infant pups, lectin staining revealed mar ked differences between hairless and haired dogs. Griffonia simplicifo lia-I (GS-I) bound moderately to the cytoplasm of the stratum basale o f hairless dogs, while no binding to that of haired dogs was observed. Bauhinia purpurea (BPA) showed positive staining for the stratum spin osum and basale of hairless dogs, while it was negative or weakly posi tive for the cytoplasm of both epidermal layers of haired dogs. Maclur a pomifera (MPA) showed moderate to intense staining for the intercell ular area of the stratum basale of hairless dogs, while no or weak sta ining was detected in that of haired dogs. Urex europeus-I (UEA-I) bou nd weakly to moderately to the cytoplasm and the intercellular area of the stratum spinosum of hairless dogs, whereas no or very weak staini ng was observed in those of haired dogs. Most of the lectins exhibited significant alterations in the epidermal staining pattern between inf ants and adults. Significant differences were not observed in adult ca nine epidermis between hairless and haired dogs. In conclusion, lectin histochemistry in hairless dogs revealed that there were different de velopment steps in the epidermal cells between infants and adults.