抄録
The purpose of this study was to get a baseline information of the molecular constituents including extracellular matrix (ECM) in the chinchilla middle ear mucosa using immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrated that collagen types I and III were found in the submucosal layer, type IV collagen and laminin in the basement membranes, fibronectin in the submucosal layer and in the epithelial cell surface, and keratin in the epithelial cells. Few keratin-positive epithelial cells could be seen in the bulla, whereas almost all epithelial cells were positive with keratin in the eustachian tube mucosa and in the nasal mucosa. The number of keratin-positive cells in the bulla mucosa remarkably increased after Streptococcus pneumoniae inoculation in the middle ear cavity and these keratin-positive cells still remained in the convalescent period. These results indicate that synthesis of keratin may be the result of cell injury and, probably, keratin have an active regulatory role in the process of epithelial cell differentiation in the middle ear.
