Observation of cytochemical alkaline phosphatase activity on the plasma membrane of cultured rat hepatocytes by backscattered electron imaging

1983 ◽  
Vol 207 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Watanabe ◽  
Shinsuke Kanamura ◽  
Mari Asada-Kubota ◽  
Kazuo Kanai ◽  
Motoko Oka
1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kobayashi ◽  
J.M. Robinson ◽  
H. Seguchi

In this study, we show that superoxide production is carried out within intracellular compartments of human neutrophils and not at the plasma membrane following stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate. Oxidant production was not observed in unstimulated cells. Stimulated cells exhibited superoxide production in two distinct types of intracellular organelles. Initially, activity was detected in slender rod-shaped granules and in spherical or elliptical granules. The oxidant-producing granules fused directly with the plasma membrane or fused to form larger intracellular vesicles which then became associated with the plasma membrane. Longer periods of stimulation with PMA resulted in a decrease in the number of vesicles containing oxidant reaction product only, and an increase in structures containing both the oxidant-reaction product and ferritin particles; the latter was used herein as a marker for endocytosis. Thus a complex pattern of intracellular vesicular trafficking occurs in stimulated neutrophils. Alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker enzyme for a type of intracellular neutrophil granule was co-localized in the oxidant reaction-positive intracellular compartments. The time course of up-regulation of alkaline phosphatase activity to the cell surface parallelled the release of superoxide from stimulated cells. Results from this study demonstrate for the first time cytochemical and morphological evidence that superoxide is released from stimulated neutrophils through exocytosis of an oxidant-producing intracellular granule.


1994 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
pp. 1199-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
R G Parton ◽  
B Joggerst ◽  
K Simons

Caveolae are specialized invaginations of the plasma membrane which have been proposed to play a role in diverse cellular processes such as endocytosis and signal transduction. We have developed an assay to determine the fraction of internal versus plasma membrane caveolae. The GPI-anchored protein, alkaline phosphatase, was clustered in caveolae after antibody-induced crosslinking at low temperature and then, after various treatments, the relative amount of alkaline phosphatase on the cell surface was determined. Using this assay we were able to show a time- and temperature-dependent decrease in cell-surface alkaline phosphatase activity which was dependent on antibody-induced clustering. The decrease in cell surface alkaline phosphatase activity was greatly accelerated by the phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, but not by a protein kinase C activator. Internalization of clustered alkaline phosphatase in the presence or absence of okadaic acid was blocked by cytochalasin D and by the kinase inhibitor staurosporine. Electron microscopy confirmed that okadaic acid induced removal of caveolae from the cell surface. In the presence of hypertonic medium this was followed by the redistribution of groups of caveolae to the center of the cell close to the microtubule-organizing center. This process was reversible, blocked by cytochalasin D, and the centralization of the caveolar clusters was shown to be dependent on an intact microtubule network. Although the exact mechanism of internalization remains unknown, the results show that caveolae are dynamic structures which can be internalized into the cell. This process may be regulated by kinase activity and require an intact actin network.


1968 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 572-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRUCE I. BOGART

The lead capture method was employed to study the fine structural localization of nonspecific phosphatase activity in the rat submandibular gland. Alkaline phosphatase activity was observed in association with the plasma membrane and pinocytotic vesicles of the myoepithelial cell. A polarity in the distribution of alkaline phosphatase activity was described along the myoepithelial cell process. More reaction product was observed in association with the plasma membrane on the parenchymal surface than on the plamsa membrane on the stromal surface, where reaction product was confined mostly to the pinocytotic vesicles. Activity was evenly distributed over both surfaces of the portion of the myoepithelial cell characterized by the nucleus. Activity was also observed to be associated with pinocytotic vesicles of the endothelial cells and the plasma membrane of erythrocytes. No activity was observed in association with the ductal elements. Acid phosphatase activity was associated with membrane-bound structures in the acini and ducts. These structures took the form of lipofuscin granules in the acini and either multivesicular or dense bodies in the ducts.


Author(s):  
Max T. Otten

Labelling of antibodies with small gold probes is a highly sensitive technique for detecting specific molecules in biological tissue. Larger gold probes are usually well visible in TEM or STEM Bright-Field images of unstained specimens. In stained specimens, however, the contrast of the stain is frequently the same as that of the gold labels, making it virtually impossible to identify the labels, especially when smaller gold labels are used to increase the sensitivity of the immunolabelling technique. TEM or STEM Dark-Field images fare no better (Figs. 1a and 2a), again because of the absence of a clear contrast difference between gold labels and stain.Potentially much more useful is backscattered-electron imaging, since this will show differences in average atomic number which are sufficiently large between the metallic gold and the stains normally used. However, for the thin specimens and at high accelerating voltages of the STEM, the yield of backscattered electrons is very small, resulting in a very weak signal. Consequently, the backscattered-electron signal is often too noisy for detecting small labels, even for large spot sizes.


Author(s):  
Seiji Kato

Previously, the author repeatedly confirmed the higher 5’-nucleotidase (5’-Nase) and lower alkaline phoaphatase (ALPase) activities in the wall of lymphatic capillaries reacted with the lead-based method relative to those of blood capillaries. The ALPase, on the other hand, is markedly higher in blood capillaries than in lymphatics. On the basis of these enzyme characteristics, the author has developed a 5’-Nase— ALPase double staining method to differentiate small lymphatics from blood capillaries at the level of the light microcsopy. Furthermore, we applied it to histochemical observation of the lead-containing reaction products of 5’-Nase in lymphatics on the same or adjacent cryostat sections using backscattered electron imaging (BEI) in scanning electron microscope (SEM). This paper presents a new applicability of 5’-Nase histochemistry by BEI-SEM to demonstrate the distribution of lymphatic capillaries in tissue blocks.


1960 ◽  
Vol XXXV (IV) ◽  
pp. 575-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Borel ◽  
J. Frei ◽  
A. Vannotti

ABSTRACT Enzymatic studies, on leucocytes of pregnant women, show an increase of the alkaline phosphatase activity and a decrease of the glucose consumption and lactate production, as well as of proteolysis. The oxygen consumption, with succinate as substrate, does not vary.


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