It also corroborated that there is a good correlation between the spatial expression of the reporter enzyme in transgenic mice and that of Azin2 mRNA in wild type mice, shown in a previous work by in situ RNA hybridization. In addition, the present study also demonstrated X-gal staining of the spermatozoa located in the lumen of the epididymis suggesting that AZIN2 participate not only in the spermiogenesis but that also it may have a role in sperm function. On the other hand, in the brain, X-gal staining was found in many different areas including the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. Fig. 4uC displays staining in different cells of the dentate gyrus, showing a vesicular-like pattern in some cells. In the cerebellum, b-Dgalactosidase was also detected in vesicular-like structures in PF-04217903 neurons, including Purkinje cells. A more detailed study of the expression of Azin2 in the mouse brain will be the matter of forthcoming studies. Interestingly, our histological analysis revealed that the reporter gene was expressed in specific cells of the two endocrine tissues in which expression of AZIN2 had not been Niraparib previously reported: adrenal glands and pancreas. In the adrenal gland, AZIN2 expression was found exclusively in the medulla and virtually in all chromaffin cells and no hints of AZIN2 were found in the cortex. At a higher magnification, it was observed that the majority of chromaffin cells displayed a granular-like reactivity with 1 to 3 extranuclear granules per cell section. Furthermore, we found clusters of chromaffin cells with both cytosolic and a more intense superimposed granular staining. No sexual dimorphism was observed. With regard to the pancreas, the reporter activity was found exclusively in the Langerhans islets. The exocrine pancreas did not show any staining and all the islets observed across different sections showed clear histochemical staining. The histochemical signal within islets was heterogeneous, ranging from fully unstained cells, to cells with intense granular and cytosolic staining. As shown above for the adrenal gland, we found both cytosolic and granular staining, concomitantly or separately, though the frequency of cytosolic staining was higher when compared to the adrenal medulla. The multiplicity of these granules was also lower in the pancreas at the single cell level, as no more than one granule per cell section was normally found. To address the identity of the AZIN2-expressing islet cells, we performed insulin immunofluorescence on histochemically stained sections.