Detection of sugar residues in lizard tooth germs (Liolaemus gravenhorsti) using lectin histochemistry

The appearance, cellular distribution, and changes of sugar residues during tooth development in adults of the polyphyodont, Liolaemus gravenhorsti, were investigated by using horseradish-peroxidase-conjugate lectins (lectin-HRP). With Con A (Canavalia ensiformis), the ameloblasts (late bell stage) show granular supranuclear positivity and also at the Golgi zone and on their tomes process. Reactivity also appears at the apical surface of the odontoblasts and odontoblastic process. With WGA (Triticum vulgaris), the tooth germs (late bell stage) show cytoplasmatic granular positivity in the ameloblast cells, Golgi regions, and in a lesser extent of the cytoplasm. Also, the apical surface and the odontoblastic process react. WGA reaction is depressed following sialidase treatment. The significance in tooth germs of α-D-mannose, α-D-glucose as well as β-D-N-acetylglucosamine and sialic acid is difficult to ascertain. These oligosaccharides may have some significance in odontogenesis. In fact, Con A-HRP- and WGA-HRP-binding components in ameloblasts and odontoblasts may be functionally related to molecules that are thought to contribute to odontogenesis in lizards. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.