Postnatal development of the duct system in the mouse parotid gland

The morphology of the parotid gland in adult mice is mouse strain-specific. C57BL/6 and C3H/He strains of mouse are representatives of two types of the morphology identified previously. The postnatal development of such morphologic differences was investigated by sialography of excised glands of these strains of mouse. It was observed that the mouse strain-dependent morphological characteristics were already present at birth, except for the branching pattern of the peripheral duct system, which became differentiated at 3 weeks of age. These results indicate that the C3H/He mouse-specific branching pattern of the peripheral ducts reflects the profile of matured secretory units and ducts, and that the C57BL/6 mouse-specific pattern resembles that of an immature C3H/He mouse.