Figure 2

Immunohistochemical localization of ERα and ERβ in the bonnet monkey epididymis: a. ERα staining: Immuno-peroxidase staining for ERα showing intense nuclear staining in caput (Panel A), corpus (Panel B) and cauda (Panel C) regions of the bonnet monkey epididymis. Staining was most intense in the tubular epithelial cells lining the lumen (inset; staining indicated by arrow). Panels D-F show the negative controls for each region, wherein the primary antibody was incubated with the blocking peptide. Panel G shows intense staining in the nuclei of mouse uterus tissue, which served as the positive control. Panel H shows an enlarged epididymal tubule representing the staining pattern in different cell types- while staining was intense in the nuclei of the tubular epithelium, weak staining was observed in the smooth muscle cells surrounding the tubule and that of the vascular ducts ; TE-tubular epithelial cell, PSMC- peri-tubular smooth muscle cell, VSMC- vascular smooth muscle cell. Bar in Panel A = 100 μ b. The caput, corpus and cauda regions of the bonnet monkey epididymis (Panels A-C, respectively) show intense staining for ERβ both in the nuclei of the epithelial cells lining the lumen (inset; staining indicated by arrow), and the surrounding stroma. Panels D-F represent the negative controls for each region wherein the addition of the primary antibody was omitted. Panel G shows intense staining in rat ventral prostate tissue, which served as a positive control. Panel H shows absence of ERβ staining in rat liver tissue, which was used as a negative control. Panel I shows an enlarged epididymal tubule depicting staining in the various cell types, in and around the tubule- considerable staining was also observed in the smooth muscle cells; TE-tubular epithelial cell, PSMC-peri-tubular smooth muscle cell, VSMC- vascular smooth muscle cell. Bar in Panel A = 100 μ.