Figure 1.

Anatomy and histology of the nasopharynx in EDA pathway deleted mice. (A–D) Dorsal plane sections, (E-L) coronal sections. (A) FVB wild-type controls, Edar^dlJ/+and Edar ^Tg951/951 mice have submucosal glands (smg) located in caudal region of the nasopharynx duct (nd) associated with the auditory tubes (at) that connect the nasopharynx duct to the bulla (b); (B) is at higher magnification of this region. (C) Small nasopharynx submucosal glands (smg) are located caudal to the opening of the auditory tubes, the example shown is a 16-week-old Edar^dlJ/+mouse; (D) caudal nasopharynx glands are absent Edar^dlJ/dlJ and Eda^Ta mice; the example shown is a 12-week-old Eda^Ta mouse. (E) Coronal section of the nasopharynx in a 37-week-old FVB mouse shows auditory tube submucosal glands (smg) and submucosal glands in the soft palate (arrow); (G,I) auditory tube submucosal glands shown at higher magnifications have serous cells and mucous cell populations, and the auditory tubes have Alcian Blue positive goblet cells (arrowheads); stained with PAS Alcian Blue. (F,H,J) Comparable sections in a 27-week-old Eda^Ta mouse lacking submucosal glands and auditory tube goblet cells: note foreign body (fb) in the nasopharynx duct. (K) In the FVB mouse the submucosal gland serous gland cell population (arrows), and the auditory tube epithelium secretory cells (arrowheads) stain positively for lysozyme. (L) In the Eda^Ta mouse, lysozyme positive myeloid cells (mc) in the bone marrow cavity and auditory tube lumen. Scale bars: 2.5 mm (A); 1.0 mm (B); 500 µm (C,D,E,F); 250 µm (G,H,K,L); 100 µm (I,J).