Immunoelectron microscopy on the localization of endothelin in the umbilical vein of perinatal rabbits.

Immunoelectron microscopic localization of endothelin (ET) using the mouse monoclonal anti-ET sera was performed on the pre- and postnatal rabbit umbilical vein during stages when Weibel-Palade (WP) bodies increase in number in the endothelial cells. The immunoreactions are localized in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi cisterns, and WP bodies that are actively segregated from the Golgi apparatus. After degranulation and extracellular release of WP bodies was induced by compound 48/80, heavy immunoreactions were seen in both vascular lumen and cytoplasm near the degranulated WP bodies. These results indicate that ET is stored in WP bodies after segregation from the Golgi apparatus and released from the endothelial cells concomitantly with other components of these granules by exocytosis. Because the immunoreactions are also seen in pinocytotic vesicles that are occasionally in contact with WP bodies, it seems likely that WP bodies are also involved in the uptake and storage of ET from blood plasma.