Differentiation of myoepithelial cells in the developing rat parotid gland

Parotid glands of rats were prepared for light and electron microscopy and for the histochemical demonstration of myofibrils and alkaline phosphatase (AkPase) activity. Through 18 days in utero, the epithelial cells of the developing gland remain relatively undifferentiated. At 20 days in utero, a few cells in the outer layer of the terminal buds and adjacent segments of ducts acquire a cilium, the initial indication that they are differentiating into myoepithelial cells (MEC). Up until the time of birth, the only additional characteristics of MEC that the outer cells develop are to flatten against the underlying cells, begin to send out processes, and produce a few dilated cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum. Myofibrils and AkPase activity are first detected at the light microscopic level at five days after birth, around both the developing acini and intercalated ducts. Progressive increases in AkPase activity and in the size and number of myofibrils continue until the acini and intercalated ducts are invested with well-differentiated MEC at 15 days. Subsequently, as the acini undergo maturation during the weaning period (18-25 days), the MEC cease to surround the acini and assume the adult pattern of investing only the intercalated ducts. The pattern of MEC differentiation in the parotid gland differs from those in the sublingual and submandibular glands of the rat in several important respects. They begin to differentiate last, yet mature almost as early as do the MEC of the sublingual gland; they begin to differentiate prior to, rather than simultaneously with, the secretory cells; and their distribution changes as the acinar cells become mature.