Isolation of Different Types of Anterior Pituitary Cells in Rats

Abstract

This report deals with a new technique developed by the author to isolate various types of anterior pituitary cells. Some of the principal procedures involved in this technique are: 1) initial digestion of pituitary tissues by trypsin in a calcium-and magnesium-free buffer solution of Rinaldini, 2) filtration of the dissociated cells through the stainless steel mesh, 3) treatment of the filtered cells with elastase and collagenase to prevent their aggregation and aggultination, 4) and final separation of the cells according to their types by centrifuging dextran A on the discontinuous gradient to which the filtered cells were added. Light and electron microscopic examinations of all the fractions after centrifugation confirmed a perfectseparation of chromophobes, undifferentiated cells of ambiguous nature, and intermediate cells between chromophobes and chromophils. However, the acidophils and basophils isolated by our technique were found intermingled with a small number of the intermediate cells.