V. Franceschini et F. Ciani, LECTIN HISTOCHEMISTRY OF CELL-SURFACE GLYCOCONJUGATES IN THE PRIMARY OLFACTORY PROJECTIONS OF THE NEWT, Cellular and molecular biology, 39(6), 1993, pp. 651-658
The binding of 14 lectins were performed on paraffin-embedded sections
of the olfactory bulb of Triturus to identify specific glycoconjugate
s on the cell surface of primary olfactory projections. The histochemi
cal lectin staining patterns indicate that the membrane of olfactory n
eurons terminating in the main olfactory bulb contained prevalently ol
igosaccharides with alpha-acetyl-D-galactosamine as terminal residues.
In the accessory olfactory bulb, instead, the primary olfactory proje
ctions possess a high density of alpha-D-galactose as sugar residues.
The selective lectin binding on the surface of primary olfactory axons
suggests that specific cell surface glycoproteins may have a role in
the axonal growth due to the continual cycle of proliferation and deat
h of olfactory receptors.