Immunocytochemical localization of basic fibroblast growth factor in the rat pituitary gland

Immunohistochemical localization of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was studied in the rat pituitary gland at light and electron microscopic levels using a specific monoclonal antibody. In the anterior lobe, bFGF-immunoreactivity was found mostly in a cell population without secretory granules, which was identified as the folliculo-stellate (FS) cell by its ultra-structure and expression of S-100 protein. The subcellular localization of the immunoreactivity in FS cell was strictly nuclear. Besides the FS cell, a minor cell population containing small granules of 60-100 nm diameter, which seemed to represent immature endocrine cells, was immunostained in the nuclei with the anti-bFGF antibody. In the intermediate lobe, a subpopulation of the S-100 protein-positive cells lining the pituitary cleft was immunoreactive for bFGF. These results imply that the agranular cell types are the main producer and/or target of rat pituitary bFGF, and that bFGF may play a role in the differentiation of pituitary endocrine cells.