Abstract
It was demonstrated that the spleen pigment cells of Amphibia are macrophages: they show an ultrastructurally distinctive morphology, are able to phagocytose and react positively for non-specific esterases. These pigmented macrophages express mRNA for tyrosinase and also they show dopa oxidase activity; therefore they are able to synthesize melanins, as Kupffer cells do.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Ambystoma
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Amphibians
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Animals
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Base Sequence
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DNA, Complementary / metabolism
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Immunohistochemistry
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Macrophages / metabolism*
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Melanins / biosynthesis
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Melanins / metabolism
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Microscopy, Electron
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Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Monophenol Monooxygenase / biosynthesis
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Monophenol Monooxygenase / metabolism
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Nucleic Acids / metabolism
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Phagocytosis
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Pigmentation*
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RNA, Messenger / metabolism
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Rana esculenta
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
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Spleen / metabolism*
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Xenopus laevis
Substances
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DNA, Complementary
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Melanins
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Nucleic Acids
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RNA, Messenger
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Monophenol Monooxygenase