This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Marx, C. Articles by Scherbaum, W. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Marx, C. Articles by Scherbaum, W. A.

Relevance of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Expression as a Hallmark for the Cellular Differentiation in the Human Adrenal Cortex¹

Department of Internal Medicine III (C.M. S.R.B., G.W.W.), University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Leipzig; Department of Pediatrics (M.P., W.G.S.) Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel; and Diabetes Forschungsinstitut (W.A.S.), Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Stefan R. Bornstein, M.D., NICHD, NIH, Building 10, Room 10N262, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens are expressed on adrenocortical cells of the zona reticularis and have been shown to be a marker of dignity. This suggests a correlation to the zellular differentiation of the adrenal cortex. Therefore, we immunohistochemically investigated the MHC class II expression in the context of the ontogenesis of the zonal and cellular differentiation in fetal, postnatal, childhood, and adult adrenals. Cell types and cell turnover were studied using specific immune markers (including expression of CD95/Fas), in situ end labeling of apoptosis, and electron microscopy. We show that prenatal (fetal and definitive) steroid cells, as well as postnatal adrenals, reveal no expression of MHC class II. In childhood, these antigens first appear by the fourth year, in parallel with the differentiation of reticularis cells. The expression index in childhood was 7.43% ± 2.78 (mean ± SEM), in adult adrenals 18.63% ± 3.14 (third decade), and 15.15% ± 1.26 (fourth through sixth decade). In conclusion, MHC class II expression and the development of the functional maturation of the adult adrenal cortex occur simultaneously. The expression of MHC class II on steroid cells may thus be involved in potential immune-adrenal interactions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. N. West, G. A. Neale, S. Pounds, B. C. Figueredo, C. Rodriguez Galindo, M. A. D. Pianovski, A. G. Oliveira Filho, D. Malkin, E. Lalli, R. Ribeiro, et al. Gene Expression Profiling of Childhood Adrenocortical Tumors Cancer Res., January 15, 2007; 67(2): 600 - 608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. W. Wolkersdorfer, C. Marx, J. Brown, S. Schroder, M. Fussel, E. P. Rieber, E. Kuhlisch, G. Ehninger, and S. R. Bornstein Prevalence of HLA-DRB1 Genotype and Altered Fas/Fas Ligand Expression in Adrenocortical Carcinoma J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2005; 90(3): 1768 - 1774. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Wang, L. Wang, A. Endoh, G. Hummelke, C. L Hawks, and P. J Hornsby Identification of {alpha}-enolase as a nuclear DNA-binding protein in the zona fasciculata but not the zona reticularis of the human adrenal cortex J. Endocrinol., January 1, 2005; 184(1): 85 - 94. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. J. Hornsby Aging of the Human Adrenal Cortex Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ., September 1, 2004; 2004(35): re6 - re6. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Lasaitiene, P. Friberg, B. Sundelin, and Y. Chen Neonatal RAS inhibition changes the phenotype of the developing thick ascending limb of Henle Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, June 1, 2004; 286(6): F1144 - F1153. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Chen, D. Lasaitiene, B. G. Gabrielsson, L. M.S. Carlsson, H. Billig, B. Carlsson, N. Marcussen, X.-F. Sun, and P. Friberg Neonatal Losartan Treatment Suppresses Renal Expression of Molecules Involved in Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interactions J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., May 1, 2004; 15(5): 1232 - 1243. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M Cutolo Sex hormone adjuvanting therapy in rheumatoid arthritis Lupus, October 1, 2002; 11(10): 670 - 674. [PDF]

				G. W. Wolkersdörfer, T. Lohmann, C. Marx, S. Schröder, R. Pfeiffer, H.-D. Stahl, W. A. Scherbaum, G. P. Chrousos, and S. R. Bornstein Lymphocytes Stimulate Dehydroepiandrosterone Production through Direct Cellular Contact with Adrenal Zona Reticularis Cells: A Novel Mechanism of Immune-Endocrine Interaction J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 1999; 84(11): 4220 - 4227. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				S. R. BORNSTEIN, T. TAJIMA, G. EISENHOFER, A. HAIDAN, and G. AGUILERA Adrenomedullary function is severely impaired in 21-hydroxylase-deficient mice FASEB J, July 1, 1999; 13(10): 1185 - 1194. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				S. R. Bornstein, C. A. Stratakis, and G. P. Chrousos Adrenocortical Tumors: Recent Advances in Basic Concepts and Clinical Management Ann Intern Med, May 4, 1999; 130(9): 759 - 771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. R. Bornstein and G. P. Chrousos Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)- and Non-ACTH-Mediated Regulation of the Adrenal Cortex: Neural and Immune Inputs J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 1999; 84(5): 1729 - 1736. [Full Text]

				M. Ehrhart-Bornstein, J. P. Hinson, S. R. Bornstein, W. A. Scherbaum, and G. P. Vinson Intraadrenal Interactions in the Regulation of Adrenocortical Steroidogenesis Endocr. Rev., April 1, 1998; 19(2): 101 - 143. [Abstract] [Full Text]