The ontogeny of the Fc. receptor in rat intestine
The ontogeny of the Fc. receptor in rat intestine
It is well established that maternal antibody is transported to suckling rats. This transport is specific for the Fc portion of IgG and occurs in the proximal intestine up to the age of twenty one days. It is generally accepted that the transport of antibody is mediated by what is called an Fc receptor. In this project the early ontogeny of the Fc receptor expression on rat gut enterocytes has been investigated using an erythrocyte-antibody rosette assay adapted from the method of Wild (1981). It was found that the Fc receptor is first expressed by the foetal rat gut late in gestation, at about twenty one days postcoital. This has been corroborated by observation of IgG binding to foetal and neonatal enterocytes, as facilitated by fluorescence microscopy and the observation at the ultrastructural level of the endocytosis of antibody-antigen complexes by foetal enterocytes. These ultrastructural observations provide evidence that the Fc receptor is not only present on foetal enterocytes but also has functional potential as an antibody transport system at this age. An investigation was also made into the possibility that glucocorticoid levels could act as a control mechanism for the initiation of Fc receptor expression in gut enterocytes. To this end foetal rat gut was organ cultured in medium that contained dexamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid) and evidence was obtained suggesting that glucocorticoids are necessary for the expression of the receptor. An interesting observation is that dexamethasone causes a premature cessation of Fc receptor expression in neonatal animals. The work presented elucidates the early ontogeny of the Fc receptor and makes some important observations as to the possible role of glucocorticoids in the control of Fc receptor expression in rat intestine. (D72233/87)
University of Southampton
1985
Griffin, Peter
(1985)
The ontogeny of the Fc. receptor in rat intestine.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
It is well established that maternal antibody is transported to suckling rats. This transport is specific for the Fc portion of IgG and occurs in the proximal intestine up to the age of twenty one days. It is generally accepted that the transport of antibody is mediated by what is called an Fc receptor. In this project the early ontogeny of the Fc receptor expression on rat gut enterocytes has been investigated using an erythrocyte-antibody rosette assay adapted from the method of Wild (1981). It was found that the Fc receptor is first expressed by the foetal rat gut late in gestation, at about twenty one days postcoital. This has been corroborated by observation of IgG binding to foetal and neonatal enterocytes, as facilitated by fluorescence microscopy and the observation at the ultrastructural level of the endocytosis of antibody-antigen complexes by foetal enterocytes. These ultrastructural observations provide evidence that the Fc receptor is not only present on foetal enterocytes but also has functional potential as an antibody transport system at this age. An investigation was also made into the possibility that glucocorticoid levels could act as a control mechanism for the initiation of Fc receptor expression in gut enterocytes. To this end foetal rat gut was organ cultured in medium that contained dexamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid) and evidence was obtained suggesting that glucocorticoids are necessary for the expression of the receptor. An interesting observation is that dexamethasone causes a premature cessation of Fc receptor expression in neonatal animals. The work presented elucidates the early ontogeny of the Fc receptor and makes some important observations as to the possible role of glucocorticoids in the control of Fc receptor expression in rat intestine. (D72233/87)
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 1985
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 460807
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460807
PURE UUID: 83cf7639-1a54-443c-97c6-a3a05b6a4092
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:30
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 18:30
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Peter Griffin
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics