Glucagon of Caviomorphs and Other Tetrapods Immunohistochemically Investigated with Two Antisera against the N- and C-Terminal Portions of the Molecule

• Published in: General and comparative endocrinology Vol. 99; no. 2; pp. 178 - 184
• Main Authors: Iturriza, Fermı́n C., Verzi, Diego H., Di Maggio, Lidia A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.1995
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Biological Evolution; Bufonidae; Ducks; Glucagon - analysis; Glucagon - chemistry; Glucagon - immunology; Guinea Pigs - metabolism; Immune Sera - immunology; Immunohistochemistry; Molecular Sequence Data; Pancreas - chemistry; Pancreas - cytology; Pancreas - metabolism; Rats; Rodentia - metabolism; Snakes
• ISSN: 0016-6480; 1095-6840
• DOI: 10.1006/gcen.1995.1099

Pancreatic sections from diverse tetrapods, including various species of caviomorph rodents, were immunohistochemically investigated using two antisera which reacted with the N- and C-terminal portions of the glucanon molecule. While the antiserum against the N-terminal portion stained α cells in all the species studied, the antiserum against the C-portion failed to stain α cells in two caviomorphs of the Caviidae family (guinea pig and cuis) and in one of the Octodontidae family (degu). The observations in guinea pig and degu were expected, since their glucagons differ from those of many other tetrapods in the C-terminal portion of the molecule. In this paper, the cuis was added to these two species. It is noteworthy that among the caviomorphs studied herein (nine species), immunohistochemical differences were detected only in the three above-mentioned species and did not involve higher taxa, thus suggesting that these modifications are relatively recent in the evolution of this group of rodents.