A few autoradiographical studies have shown that the lifespan of lingual epithelium in mice is about 4-8 days, and that of taste buds is about 10 days. However, the autoradiographic method requires a special isotope institute and a long time for the final specimen to be observed. Recently, alternative rapid non-radioactive techniques have been developed, where in a thymidine analogue, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), is incorporated into replicating DNA and subsequently localized using a specific monoclonal antibody. In this study, cell dynamics of taste buds and lingual epithelium in mice were investigated by means of this immunohistological technique.
Results were as follows:
1, The labelled elements were concentrated at the basal layer of the epithelium and in the basal cells of the taste buds, which were observed 5hrs after the first injection.
2, At five days after administration of BrdU, the labelled elements were located in the taste buds and epithelium.
3, At eight days after injection, the labelled elements were still located in the epithelium, on the other hands, obvious incorporation was not observed in the taste buds. After ten days, the labelled elements disappered from the epithelium. It indicates that the lifespan of lingual epithelium in mice is within ten days, and that of taste buds is within 8 days.
