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Tissue Distribution of Placental Leucine Aminopeptidase/Oxytocinase During Mouse Pregnancy

Honami Kobayashi, Seiji Nomura, Takashi Mitsui, Tomomi Ito, Naohiko Kuno, Yasumasa Ohno, Kenji Kadomatsu, Takashi Muramatsu, Tetsuro Nagasaka and Shigehiko Mizutani

Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology (HK,SN,TM,TI,NK,YO,SM) and Biochemistry (KK,TM), Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, and Division of Pathology (TN), Clinical Laboratory, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

Correspondence to: Dr. Seiji Nomura, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan. E-mail: snomura{at}med.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Placental leucine aminopeptidase (P-LAP), also called oxytocinase, is an enzyme responsible for hydrolyzing oxytocin. This enzyme is identical to cystine aminopeptidase. We examined the tissue distribution of P-LAP in normal adult mice and also in mothers and fetuses during mouse pregnancy using immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. P-LAP-immunoreactive protein was expressed in various organs in a cell- and gestational stage-dependent manner. In the kidney, P-LAP was located in distal and collecting tubules but not in proximal tubules. The islet of Langerhans in the maternal pancreas stained positively for P-LAP in the periphery in early gestation. This staining pattern changed so that both the periphery and inner cells were positive during mid-gestation and finally only inner cells were positive in late gestation. Among the hematopoietic cells in the fetal liver, only megakaryocytes showed strong expression of P-LAP. The staining intensity increased with gestation on the apical surface of trophoblasts in the placental labyrinth. These data demonstrate that P-LAP is present in a variety of tissues, and its presence is affected by pregnancy and fetal development. Therefore, P-LAP may play a significant role in various physiological processes in non-pregnant, pregnant, and fetal mice.

(J Histochem Cytochem 52:113–121, 2004)

Key Words: aminopeptidase • development • fetus • immunohistochemistry • mouse • oxytocinase • placenta • pregnancy

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