Abstract

We studied histochemically the expression of glycans in the mouse submandibular glands of the normal, castrated, castrated mice injected with testosterone (T) and castrated mice injected with dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) technique was used on paraffin sections with a panel of biotinylated lectins. Our results show that (1) in all experimental cases, the acinar cells are s-WGA and PHA-L negative; in these structures, T or DHT repress the synthesis of the some glycan chains recognized by the GNA and PNA (2) in the excretory ducts (ED), the T restores the synthesis of only the Gal?(1-3)GalNAc recognized by the PNA, while the DHT restores the synthesis of this disaccharide and Neu5Ac?(2,3)Gal recognized by MAA (3) In the granular convoluted tubule (GCT), no glycan chain is activated after injection of the T. The two hormones have antagonistic effects on the synthesis of Fuc?(1-2)Gal and (?,?)GalNAc; indeed, T is as inhibitor and DHT as activator. We have attempted to correlate the glycohistochemical findings with recently published data obtained biochemically in the humans and rodents submandibular glands.