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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Immunostaining to Visualize Murine Enteric Nervous System Development
Published on: April 29, 2015
Why is cyclooxygenase-2 expressed in neuroendocrine cells of the human alimentary tract?
T Nakajima1, K Hamanaka, T Fukuda
1Second Department of Pathology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan. nakajima@news.sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
During immunohistochemical studies of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) on human colon cancers, many strong COX-2-immunoreactive cells scattered in the bottom of the crypt of normal colon mucosa were unexpectedly noticed. COX-2-immunoreactive cells were morphologically very similar to neuroendocrine cells and were confirmed immunohistochemically to be positive for chromogranin A or serotonin. Moreover, COX-2-immunoreactive neuroendocrine cells were observed not only in the large intestine, but also in the stomach, duodenum and small intestine. The role of COX-2 expression in neuroendocrine cells of the human alimentary tract was speculated.
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