Human gallstones: Specimen preparation and light microscopy

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 734-735
Author(s):  
Ronald Sinicki ◽  
Christopher Viney
Keyword(s):  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Microstructural Characterization ◽  
Laser Lithotripsy ◽  
Major Surgery ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Choice Of Procedure ◽  
Minor Surgery

Several methods for removing gallstones from the human body are in use or under investigation. They range from noninvasive techniques (dissolving; ultrasound lithotripsy), through minor surgery (use of wire basket lithotriptor; laser lithotripsy), to major surgery. The choice of procedure seeks to accomplish removal of stones while minimizing the cutting of patient tissue, the post-treatment rehabilitation time, and the overall cost. The effectiveness of a given procedure will vary, depending on the size and number of stones present, and especially on their composition and microstructure. Attempts have therefore been made to correlate gallstone structure (from computerized tomography studies or magnetic resonance imaging with the least severe procedure needed to break up and remove the stone. Such empirical correlations can be facilitated by additional in vitro microstructural characterization of stones, which attempt to relate the in vivo observations to likely fracture paths and mechanisms. It is convenient to distinguish between three broad categories of gallstone. Cholesterol gallstones are associated with cholesterol supersaturation, when the level of cholesterol in bile exceeds the amount that the bile salts can keep in solution; they contain more than 25 wt% cholesterol and are relatively rare. Pigment gallstones contain less than 25 wt% cholesterol, and result from the precipitation and agglomeration of bilirubin and other inorganic salts. Mixed stones are the most common, and form the subject of our present investigations. Viewed in cross-section, they contain radiating crystals of cholesterol, together with concentric layers of apparently amorphous pigment. There are few literature references to the study of gallstone structure by light microscopy. We found only one reference to the microscopy of thin sections; others described low resolution reflected light studies of surfaces generated by dividing stones with a sudden impact delivered to a sharp knife. The drought of high resolution light micrographs even extends to pathology atlases.

The Detection and Importance of Intravascular Platelet Aggregation in Surgical Shock

1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.N. McCollum
Keyword(s):  
Femoral Vein ◽  
Major Surgery ◽  
Minor Surgery ◽  
Post Operation ◽  
Femoral Blood ◽  
Shock Lung ◽  
Platelet Aggregates ◽  
Filtration Technique

Intravascular platelet aggregates (IPA) have as yet avoided detection in shocked patients hence their role in the aetiology of “shock lung” remains controversial. Screen filtration pressure (SFP) has only been shown to measure aggregates in vitro.A modified screen filtration technique was evaluated in 43 surgical patients. The characteristics (height,slope) of the pressure wave were compared with the number of aggregates seen to occlude filter pores on scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In 80 estimations on femoral vein blood the slope of the SFP curve was utilised improving SFP/ SEM correlation to r= .93. These aggregates arise in vivo as they were rarely detected in blood from the arm and IPA levels in femoral blood were not influenced by EDTA priming of the syringe. In 36 preoperative estimations mean SFP slope was identical to that in 14 patients after minor surgery (1.5 ± SD 1.6). After major surgery in 29 patients this value was elevated at 7.1 ± 6.1 (P<.001). Seventeen of these patients with SFP slope greater than 5 suffered a mean fall in arterial P2 at 5 days post operation of 1.85 KPa (13.9 mm Hg) which was significantly greater than that in the other major cases (0.85 KPa, 6.4 mm Hg)(P <.05). SFP also correlated closely with the fall in platelet count on day 1 post operation (r= .82, P< .001).Intravascular platelet aggregates arise in the veins of the lower limb immediately after major surgery. They can be measured by the screen filtration technique described and may be related to pulmonary dysfunction.

Probing the ultrastructure of the mitotic and meiotic spindle in eggs: An expeditious approach based on semi-thin (0.25 μm) serial sections

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 552-555
Author(s):  
Conly L. Rieder ◽  
S. Bowser ◽  
R. Nowogrodzki ◽  
K. Ross ◽  
G. Sluder
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Serial Sections ◽  
Mitotic Apparatus ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Cell Cycles ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies

Eggs have long been a favorite material for studying the mechanism of karyokinesis in-vivo and in-vitro. They can be obtained in great numbers and, when fertilized, divide synchronously over many cell cycles. However, they are not considered to be a practical system for ultrastructural studies on the mitotic apparatus (MA) for several reasons, the most obvious of which is that sectioning them is a formidable task: over 1000 ultra-thin sections need to be cut from a single 80-100 μm diameter egg and of these sections only a small percentage will contain the area or structure of interest. Thus it is difficult and time consuming to obtain reliable ultrastructural data concerning the MA of eggs; and when it is obtained it is necessarily based on a small sample size.We have recently developed a procedure which will facilitate many studies concerned with the ultrastructure of the MA in eggs. It is based on the availability of biological HVEM's and on the observation that 0.25 μm thick serial sections can be screened at high resolution for content (after mounting on slot grids and staining with uranyl and lead) by phase contrast light microscopy (LM; Figs 1-2).

Use of light microscopy in the qualitative and quantitative study of liquid crystalline order

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-265
Author(s):  
Christopher Viney
Keyword(s):  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Liquid Crystalline ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Molecular Order ◽  
Liquid Crystalline Phases ◽  
Convenient Technique ◽  
Liquid Crystalline Materials ◽  
Transparent Windows

Light microscopy is a convenient technique for characterizing molecular order in fluid liquid crystalline materials. Microstructures can usually be observed under the actual conditions that promote the formation of liquid crystalline phases, whether or not a solvent is required, and at temperatures that can range from the boiling point of nitrogen to 600°C. It is relatively easy to produce specimens that are sufficiently thin and flat, simply by confining a droplet between glass cover slides. Specimens do not need to be conducting, and they do not have to be maintained in a vacuum. Drybox or other controlled environmental conditions can be maintained in a sealed chamber equipped with transparent windows; some heating/ freezing stages can be used for this purpose. It is relatively easy to construct a modified stage so that the generation and relaxation of global molecular order can be observed while specimens are being sheared, simulating flow conditions that exist during processing. Also, light only rarely affects the chemical composition or molecular weight distribution of the sample. Because little or no processing is required after collecting the sample, one can be confident that biologically derived materials will reveal many of their in vivo structural characteristics, even though microscopy is performed in vitro.

scholarly journals Post-embedding colloidal gold immunolocalization of laminin to the lamina rara interna, lamina densa, and lamina rara externa of renal glomerular basement membranes.

1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 847-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
D R Abrahamson
Keyword(s):  
Colloidal Gold ◽  
Basement Membranes ◽  
Lamina Densa ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Gold Particles ◽  
Rabbit Igg ◽  
Gold Immunolocalization ◽  
Lowicryl K4m

Ultrastructural distribution of laminin within renal glomerular (GBM) and tubular basement membranes (TBM) was investigated using post-embedding immunolocalization with colloidal gold. Rat kidneys were fixed with 4% formaldehyde and embedded at 4 degrees C in Lowicryl K4M medium. Thin sections were then sequentially treated with affinity-purified rabbit anti-laminin IgG and anti-rabbit IgG conjugated to 10 nm diameter colloidal gold. Gold bound specifically to the GBM and TBM with particle densities of 690/micron2 and 731/micron2, respectively. In the GBM, the number of gold particles bound/micron2 of lamina densa greater than lamina rara externa greater than lamina rara interna. Closely similar binding patterns were found when kidneys were fixed with 0.5% glutaraldehyde plus 3% formaldehyde and embedded at 60 degrees C in L.R. White resin, but slightly less gold bound to sections overall than that seen with formaldehyde alone and Lowicryl. Taken together, these results illustrate that anti-laminin IgG, whether applied to fixed sections in vitro or introduced in vivo, bound to the lamina rara interna, lamina densa, and lamina rara externa of the GBM and throughout the TBM.

scholarly journals Function of Native OmtA In Vivo and Expression and Distribution of This Protein in Colonies of Aspergillus parasiticus

2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 5718-5727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Wei Lee ◽  
Ching-Hsun Chiou ◽  
John E. Linz
Keyword(s):  
Fusion Protein ◽  
Aspergillus Parasiticus ◽  
Polyclonal Antibodies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Temporal Association ◽  
Thin Sections

ABSTRACT The activities of two enzymes, a 168-kDa protein and a 40-kDa protein, OmtA, purified from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus parasiticus were reported to convert the aflatoxin pathway intermediate sterigmatocystin to O-methylsterigmatocystin in vitro. Our initial goal was to determine if OmtA is necessary and sufficient to catalyze this reaction in vivo and if this reaction is necessary for aflatoxin synthesis. We generated A. parasiticus omtA-null mutant LW1432 and a maltose binding protein-OmtA fusion protein expressed in Escherichia coli. Enzyme activity analysis of OmtA fusion protein in vitro confirmed the reported catalytic function of OmtA. Feeding studies conducted with LW1432 demonstrated a critical role for OmtA, and the reaction catalyzed by this enzyme in aflatoxin synthesis in vivo. Because of a close regulatory link between aflatoxin synthesis and asexual sporulation (conidiation), we hypothesized a spatial and temporal association between OmtA expression and conidiospore development. We developed a novel time-dependent colony fractionation protocol to analyze the accumulation and distribution of OmtA in fungal colonies grown on a solid medium that supports both toxin synthesis and conidiation. OmtA-specific polyclonal antibodies were purified by affinity chromatography using an LW1432 protein extract. OmtA was not detected in 24-h-old colonies but was detected in 48-h-old colonies using Western blot analysis; the protein accumulated in all fractions of a 72-h-old colony, including cells (0 to 24 h) in which little conidiophore development was observed. OmtA in older fractions of the colony (24 to 72 h) was partly degraded. Fluorescence-based immunohistochemical analysis conducted on thin sections of paraffin-embedded fungal cells from time-fractionated fungal colonies demonstrated that OmtA is evenly distributed among different cell types and is not concentrated in conidiophores. These data suggest that OmtA is present in newly formed fungal tissue and then is proteolytically cleaved as cells in that section of the colony age.

324 CELL LINES DERIVED FROM MAMMALIAN PARTHENOGENETIC EMBRYOS DISPLAY ABNORMAL CHROMOSOME COMPLEMENTS AND ABERRANT CENTRIOLE NUMBER

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 318
Author(s):  
T. A. L. Brevini ◽  
G. Pennarossa ◽  
A. Vanelli ◽  
G. Tettamanti ◽  
L. Bogliolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Lines ◽  
Embryoid Body ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Primary Fibroblast ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Paternal Contribution ◽  
Parthenogenetic Embryos

Mature oocytes can be activated in vitro, leading to the generation of parthenotes that will develop in culture forming blastocysts morphologically indistinguishable from those derived from fertilized eggs. Parthenotes have been used as a source of pluripotent cells that show the traditional features associated with their biparental counterpart: expression of totipotency markers, telomerase activity, embryoid body formation, in vitro differentiation and, in most cases, teratoma formation. However, many aspects still need to be elucidated and, in particular, little attention has been paid to the inci- dence of aneuploidy in these cells. Limited data available for parthenotes derived from different mammalian species indicate a high rate of aneuploidy, whichis consideredtobecaused by the lackofthe paternal contribution, because alterations of the centrosome are knowntolead to multipolar spindles that, in turn, cause aneuploid cells. In this study, we analyzed the rate of aneuploidy and centriole distribution (as a marker of centrosome anomalies) in pluripotent cell lines (pSC) previously derived in our laboratory from pig parthenogenetic embryos and in primary fibroblast cultures and sections obtained from sheep parthenogenetic fetuses (n = 3) that reached 24 days of development in vivo. This protocol was chosen to separate the effect related tooocyte activation from those of the procedures used to derive pSC lines. Centriole number and distribution were assessed both by immunocy- tochemical analysis using an anti-centrin-1 antibody (1 : 200, Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and an appropriate secondary antibody, and by ultrastructural evaluation of thin sections, using a Jeol 1010 EX electron microscope (Jeol, Tokyo, Japan). Karyotyping was performed on mitotically active cells. Metaphases were fully karyotyped under a Leica HC microscope (Wetzlar, Germany). Images were then captured with a Leica DC250 digital camera and cells karyotyped using the Leica CW4000 Karyo software. The results obtained indicate that cell lines of parthenogenetic origin have, in all examined cases, an incidence of aneuploidy significantly higher than that of their respective controls. In particular, although the diploid configuration represented the modal value, the majority of the cells displayed a consistently lower number of chromosomes, between <1N (hypohaploid) and >1N to <2N (hypodiploid).This resultis possibly related toa lossofchromosomes during the mitotic process.Ahigher incidence ofmultiple centrioles was also detected, suggesting that aneuploidy may be related to the lack of paternal contribution that results in abnormal centrosome formation, incorrect control of the process of spindle rearrangement, and consequent chromosomal malsegregation.Abnormal segregation and multicentriolar distribution were not limited to parthenogenetic cell lines but was observed in parthenotes as well, indicating that culture artifacts are unlikely to be the cause. PUR 2007, PUR 2008.

scholarly journals Morphological features of lipid droplet transition during porcine oocyte fertilisation and early embryonic development to blastocyst in vivo and in vitro

Zygote ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Kikuchi ◽  
Hans Ekwall ◽  
Paisan Tienthai ◽  
Yasuhiro Kawai ◽  
Junko Noguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Oocyte Maturation ◽  
Lipid Droplets ◽  
Early Embryonic Development ◽  
Oocyte Activation ◽  
Energy Status ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Porcine Oocyte

Lipid content in mammalian oocytes or embryos differs among species, with bovine and porcine oocytes and embryos showing large cytoplasmic droplets. These droplets are considered to play important roles in energy metabolism during oocyte maturation, fertilisation and early embryonic development, and also in the freezing ability of oocytes or embryos; however, their detailed distribution or function is not well understood. In the present study, changes in the distribution and morphology of porcine lipid droplets during in vivo and in vitro fertilisation, in contrast to parthenogenetic oocyte activation, as well as during their development to blastocyst stage, were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The analysis of semi-thin and ultra-thin sections by TEM showed conspicuous, large, electron-dense lipid droplets, sometimes associated with mitochondrial aggregates in the oocytes, irrespective of whether the oocytes had been matured in vivo or in vitro. Immediately after sperm penetration, the electron density of the lipid droplets was lost in both the in vivo and in vitro oocytes, the reduction being most evident in the oocytes developed in vitro. Density was restored in the pronculear oocytes, fully in the in vivo specimens but only partially in the in vitro ones. The number and size of the droplets seemed, however, to have decreased. At 2- to 4-cell and blastocyst stages, the features of the lipid droplets were almost the same as those of pronuclear oocytes, showing a homogeneous or saturated density in the in vivo embryos but a marbled or partially saturated appearance in the in vitro embryos. In vitro matured oocytes undergoing parthenogenesis had lipid droplets that resembled those of fertilised oocytes until the pronuclear stage. Overall, results indicate variations in both the morphology and amount of cytoplasmic lipid droplets during porcine oocyte maturation, fertilisation and early embryo development as well as differences between in vivo and in vitro development, suggesting both different energy status during preimplantation development in pigs and substantial differences between in vitro and in vivo development.

scholarly journals Variations in modifications of sugar residues in hamster zona pellucida after in vivo fertilization and in vitro egg activation

Reproduction ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 671-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
M El-Mestrah ◽  
FW Kan
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Zona Pellucida ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Egg Activation ◽  
Cortical Granules ◽  
Neuraminidase Treatment ◽  
Thin Sections

Lectins were used as probes in conjunction with quantitative analysis to investigate the distribution of different carbohydrate residues in hamster zona pellucida and their possible modification patterns after in vivo fertilization and in vitro egg activation. Several lectins including HPA, WGA, RCA-I, PNA, DSA, BSAIB(4), DBA, AAA and MAA were used to label the zona pellucida of both unfertilized and fertilized eggs. With the exception of PNA and BSAIB(4), the same lectins were also used to label the zona pellucida of oocytes activated in vitro. A multicomparison quantitative analysis of the density of labelling in the inner and outer regions of the zona pellucida before and after fertilization in vivo, as well as after in vitro egg activation, was performed. Of all the lectins studied, preferential localization of labelling by RCA-I and DSA to the inner zona pellucida of unfertilized eggs was observed. After in vivo fertilization, there was an increase in labelling in the inner region of the zona pellucida when thin sections of fertilized oocytes were incubated with HPA, BSAIB(4) and AAA. Although increased labelling by RCA-I was observed, a significant decrease in labelling intensity was obtained with WGA and the sequence Neu-WGA in both the inner and outer zona pellucida of fertilized oocytes. A significant increase in the density of labelling with WGA was also observed after digestion with neuraminidase. In parallel, when hamster oocytes activated in vitro were compared with those fertilized in vivo, a difference in lectin-gold labelling was observed in both the inner and outer region of the zona pellucida. Labelling with HPA, WGA, DSA and MAA increased significantly in both the inner and outer regions of the zona pellucida, whereas labelling by DBA significantly decreased in the inner portion of the zona pellucida. After neuraminidase treatment, a significant increase in labelling density was observed when thin sections of in vitro-activated oocytes were incubated with WGA. These results demonstrate: (i) the post-fertilization modifications of major saccharidic determinants that may play a role in the sperm-egg interaction process of fertilization in vivo; and (ii) that the modified properties of zonae pellucidae of fertilized and in vitro-activated eggs resulting from the action of hydrolytic enzymes, as well as glycoproteins released through exocytosis of cortical granules, are not identical.

Demonstration of pulmonary vascular perfusion by electron and light microscopy

1993 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1877-1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Konig ◽  
J. M. Lucocq ◽  
E. R. Weibel
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Rabbit Serum ◽  
Capillary Perfusion ◽  
Vascular Perfusion ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Gold Particles ◽  
Capillary Recruitment

To estimate the fraction of dense pulmonary capillary network that is perfused under physiological conditions, we developed a new method for the demonstration of in vivo capillary perfusion by light and electron microscopy. Blood plasma was labeled by 8-nm colloidal gold particles coated with rabbit serum albumin. In anesthetized rabbits, 4#x2013;5 ml of this tracer were injected into the right atrium. Two and 15 min later, the circulation was interrupted by a snare around the heart, and the lung was fixed by instillation with glutaraldehyde. Gold particles were found in the plasma space of alveolar capillaries as well as in other organs. A random sample of thin sections studied by electron microscopy revealed that the entire capillary bed of the lung was perfused at least with plasma within 2 min after tracer infusion. Light microscopy of silver-enhanced sections showed areas with different staining intensities but no obviously unperfused capillaries. The concept of capillary recruitment, which would require a significant fraction of capillaries unperfused at rest, may have to be reassessed to consider time factors as well as the two-phase nature of blood; red blood cells and plasma may take different paths.

scholarly journals Immunodetection of prostaglandin D synthase: conditions of localization in a defined subclass of primary sensory neurons.

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 681-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Vesin ◽  
B Droz
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ultrastructural Level ◽  
Primary Sensory Neurons ◽  
Small Class ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Class B ◽  
Triton X

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 is synthesized by primary sensory neurons grown in vitro. The question can be raised of whether the entire population or only a particular subpopulation of primary sensory neurons synthesizes PGD2 in vivo. To clarify this issue it was necessary to demonstrate that PGD synthase activity persists in fresh dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cryostat slices by characterizing newly formed PGD2 from [14C]-arachidonic acid, and to determine by immunocytochemistry and to identify at the ultrastructural level the neuron subpopulation expressing glutathione (GSH)-independent PGD synthase. Among the various procedures tested, the most intense, selective, and reproducible immunostaining pattern was obtained after periodate-lysine-formaldehyde fixation in phosphate buffer, permeabilization with 0.25% Triton X-100, and incubation with 10 micrograms/ml purified antibodies. Under these conditions, a subpopulation of small Class B ganglion cells was strongly immunoreactive, whereas adjacent control sections treated with absorbed antibodies or with non-immune rabbit or goat serum were unreactive. To identify the subclass of the immunoreactive small Class B neurons, immunostained vibratome slices of DRG were embedded in Epon. Ganglion cell bodies loaded with immunoprecipitates in superficially cut sections were first identified and then ultrastructurally analyzed in thin sections taken from a deeper level to obtain improved preservation of the cell architecture. This procedure enabled us to demonstrate that GSH-independent PGD synthase is accumulated in Subclass B1 primary sensory neurons.

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