Immunoperoxidase staining of primate pituitaries with antibodies against the beta subunits of human pituitary glycoprotein hormones.

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Abstract
The immunocytochemical specificity of antibodies against the beta subunits of human pituitary glycoprotein hormones was tested on human and monkey hypophyses. Anti-luteinizing hormone (LH) beta stained only gonadotrophic cells in both species, and anti-thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) beta only thyrotrophic cells. In monkeys, anti-follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) beta demonstrated only gonadotrophs, but in man the antibody stained thyrotrophs equally well. Staining of the two cell types was diminished to a similar degree by dilution of the anti-FSH beta antibody. Human gonadotroph heterogeneity was revealed by absorption of anti-FSH beta with LH beta or TSH beta, which abolished immunostaining of a subset of gonadotrophs. Limitations in the immunocytochemical specificity of antibodies against beta subunits of pituitary glycoprotein hormones may be a consequence of incomplete purity of the generating antigens, structural overlap among the beta subunit of the three hormones, or a combination of these.