H. Toma et al., Three-dimensional structures of c-Kit-positive cellular networks in the guinea pig small intestine and colon, CELL TIS RE, 295(3), 1999, pp. 425-436
Cryosections and whole-mount preparations of the guinea pig small intestine
and colon were single or double immunolabeled using the anti-c-Kit and pro
tein gene product 9.5 antibodies. Immunolabeled specimens were observed und
er a confocal laser scanning microscope. The main findings of the present s
tudy are: (1) the distribution and profiles of three-dimensional structures
of c-Kit-positive cellular networks in the small intestine and colon, and
(2) the anatomical relations of c-Kit-positive cells to the enteric nerves
in the layers. In the small intestine, c-Kit-positive cellular networks wer
e observed at levels of the deep muscular plexus and myenteric plexus. The
c-Kit-positive cellular networks ran along or overlay the nerve fibers at t
he deep muscular plexus, while they showed the reticular structures intermi
ngled with the nerve elements at the myenteric plexus. In the colon, c-Kit-
positive cellular networks were observed at levels of the submuscular plexu
s and myenteric plexus, and were further identified within the circular and
longitudinal muscle layers as well as in the subserosal layer. In the circ
ular muscle layer, c-Kit-positive cells surrounded the associated nerve fib
ers and extended several long processes toward the adjacent c-Kit-positive
cells. The c-Kit-positive cellular networks within the longitudinal muscle
layer as well as in the subserosal layer were not associated with the nerve
fibers. In the layers of the intestinal wall with c-Kit-positive cells, th
e cellular networks of the interstitial cells were identified in ultrastruc
ture. The characteristic profiles of c-Kit-positive cellular networks provi
de a morphological basis upon which to investigate the mechanisms regulatin
g intestinal movement.