scholarly journals "Reticular" and "Areticular" Nissl Bodies in Sympathetic Neurons of a Lizard

1959 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart W. Smith

Sympathetic ganglia of the horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, were fixed in OsO4 and imbedded in methacrylate. Thin sections were cut for electron microscopy. Some adjacent thick sections were cut for light microscopy and were stained in acidified, dilute thionine both before and after digestion by RNase. In the light microscope two types of Nissl bodies are found, both removable by RNase: (1) a deep, diffuse, indistinctly bounded, metachromatic variety, and (2) a superficial, dense, sharply delimited, orthochromatic sort. Electron microscopically, the former ("reticular" Nissl bodies) corresponds to the granulated endoplasmic reticular structure of Nissl material previously described by others, whereas the latter ("areticular" Nissl bodies) comprises compact masses of particles of varying internal density and devoid of elements of endoplasmic reticulum. The constituent particles of the areticular Nissl material are 4 to 8 x the diameter of single ribonucleoprotein granules of the reticular Nissl substance and seem, near zones of junction with the reticular type, to arise by clustering of such granules with subsequent partial dispersion of the substance of the granules into an added, less dense material. It is suggested that the observed orthochromasia of the areticular Nissl substance is due to accumulation of a large amount of protein bound to RNA and, further, that these Nissl bodies may represent storage depots of RNA and protein.

Author(s):  
E. B. Masurovsky ◽  
H. H. Benitez ◽  
M. R. Murray

Recent light- and electron microscope studies concerned with the effects of D2O on the development of chick sympathetic ganglia in long-term, organized culture revealed the presence of rod-like fibrillar formations, and associated granulofibrillar bodies, in the nuclei of control and deuterated neurons. Similar fibrillar formations have been reported in the nuclei of certain mammalian CNS neurons; however, related granulofibrillar bodies have not been previously described. Both kinds of intranuclear structures are observed in cultures fixed either in veronal acetate-buffered 2%OsO4 (pH 7. 4), or in 3.5% glutaraldehyde followed by post-osmication. Thin sections from such Epon-embedded cultures were stained with ethanolic uranyl acetate and basic lead citrate for viewing in the electron microscope.


Author(s):  
Patricia G. Calarco ◽  
Margaret C. Siebert

Visualization of preimplantation mammalian embryos by electron microscopy is difficult due to the large size of the ircells, their relative lack of internal structure, and their highly hydrated cytoplasm. For example, the fertilized egg of the mouse is a single cell of approximately 75μ in diameter with little organized cytoskelet on and apaucity ofor ganelles such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi material. Thus, techniques that work well on tissues or cell lines are often not adaptable to embryos at either the LM or EM level.Over several years we have perfected techniques for visualization of mammalian embryos by LM and TEM, SEM and for the pre-embedding localization of antigens. Post-embedding antigenlocalization in thin sections of mouse oocytes and embryos has presented a more difficult challenge and has been explored in LR White, LR Gold, soft EPON (after etching of sections), and Lowicryl K4M. To date, antigen localization has only been achieved in Lowicryl-embedded material, although even with polymerization at-40°C, the small ER vesicles characteristic of embryos are unrecognizable.


1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
M. SEDGLEY

The structure of the watermelon stigma before and after pollination was studied using light and electron microscopy, freeze-fracture and autoradiography. The wall thickenings of the papilla transfer cells contained callose and their presence prior to pollination was confirmed using EM-autoradiography, freeze-fracture and fixation. No further callose thickenings were produced following pollination. Pollination resulted in a rapid increase in aqueous stigma secretion and localized disruption of the cuticle, which appeared to remain on the surface of the secretion. Autolysis of the papilla cells, which had commenced prior to pollination, was accelerated and appeared to take place via cup-shaped vacuoles developed from distended endoplasmic reticulum. The reaction was localized to the papilla cells adjacent to the pollen tube only. Both pollen-grain wall and stigma secretion contained proteins, carbohydrates, acidic polysaccharides, lipids and phenolics.


1985 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 411-421
Author(s):  
B. Van der Schueren ◽  
D. Gasser ◽  
P. Marynen ◽  
F. Van Leuven ◽  
G. David ◽  
...  

The receptor-mediated endocytosis of gold-labelled alpha 2-macroglobulin complexes with trypsin or methylamine (alpha 2M-T-Au or alpha 2M-MA-Au) was studied by electron microscopy in human skin fibroblasts. The gold label was found in coated structures and very small tubules as well as in tubulovesicular structures and in multivesicular bodies/lysosomes. Thick sections (200 nm), but especially serial thin sections, clearly showed the polymorphic character of the cellular structures involved in endocytosis. Numerous intercommunications were particularly obvious between the tubulovesicular structures, the larger vesicles and the multivesicular bodies (MVB). Continuities between MVBs and endoplasmic reticulum and interconnections between MVBs were also observed. The specificity of the staining reaction was confirmed by indirect labelling of intracellular alpha 2M by polyclonal and by monoclonal antibodies on ultracryosections. These findings are discussed in relation to observations made on epithelial cells with other ligands.


1956 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith R. Porter

Electron microscopy of thin sections of muscle fibers in myotomes of Amblystoma larvae has revealed the presence of a complex, membrane-limited system of canaliculi and vesicles which form a lace-like reticulum around and among the myofibrils. This seems to correspond to the sarcoplasmic reticulum of the earlier light microscopists and the endoplasmic reticulum of other cell types. The elements constituting the reticulum are disposed in a pattern which bears a constant relation to the bands of the adjacent myofibrils and is therefore repeated in each sarcomere. At the H band the system is transversely continuous but not so at other levels. Longitudinally continuity is interrupted at the Z bands where large vesicles belonging to adjacent sarcomere segments of the system face off on opposite sides of the band. The opposing faces of these vesicles are flat and separated by a space of more or less constant width, in which are located small, finger-shaped vesicles. In view of these and other close structural relationships with the myofibrils it seems appropriate to assign to the system a role in the conduction of the excitatory impulse.


1955 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanford L. Palay ◽  
George E. Palade

1. Thin sections of representative neurons from intramural, sympathetic and dorsal root ganglia, medulla oblongata, and cerebellar cortex were studied with the aid of the electron microscope. 2. The Nissl substance of these neurons consists of masses of endoplasmic reticulum showing various degrees of orientation; upon and between the cisternae, tubules, and vesicles of the reticulum lie clusters of punctate granules, 10 to 30 mµ in diameter. 3. A second system of membranes can be distinguished from the endoplasmic reticulum of the Nissl bodies by shallower and more tightly packed cisternae and by absence of granules. Intermediate forms between the two membranous systems have been found. 4. The cytoplasm between Nissl bodies contains numerous mitochondria, rounded lipid inclusions, and fine filaments.


Author(s):  
Alden V. Loud

Williams and Kallman pointed out one of the major artifacts in the electron microscopy of biological thin sections, namely, the failure to form images of membranes which are inclined at large angles within the section. This loss is a significant consideration in the qualitative interpretation of electron micrographs and especially in the quantitative assay of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial cristae membranes. In order to estimate the effective loss of membrane images it would be desirable to use a specimen which provides a considerable length of membrane tilted at a known angle and a simple method of measuring its “visibility”. The spherical nuclear envelopes of rat liver parenchymal cells satisfy these conditions. Figure 1 shows part of a binucleate liver cell in which the nuclear membrane is clearly visible around the larger section but blurred by oblique orientation in the smaller section.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 151-161
Author(s):  
Kuixiong Gao ◽  
Emma Lou Cardell ◽  
Randal E. Morris ◽  
Bruce F. Giffin ◽  
Robert R. Cardell

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) is the rate-limiting gluconeogenic enzyme and in liver occurs in a lobular gradient from periportal to pericentral regions. The subcellular distribution of cytoplasmic PEPCK molecules within hepatocytes and its relationship to organelles have not been determined previously. In this study, we have used immunogold electron microscopy to evaluate the subcellar distribution of the enzyme, in addition to brightfield and epipolarized light microscopy. Cryosections (10 μm) of perfusion-fixed rat liver were collected on silanated slides and immunostained using goat anti-rat PEPCK followed by 5-nm gold-labeled secondary and tertiary antibodies. Additionally, free-floating vibratome sections (25, 50, and 100 μm) of perfusion-immersion-fixed rat liver were immunogold stained using goat anti-rat PEPCK and 5-nm gold-labeled secondary antibody, with and without silver enhancement. The immunogold labeled sections from both procedures were embedded in epoxy resin for the preparation of thin sections for electron microscopy. The results showed that the gold-labeled antibodies penetrated the entire thickness of cryosections, resulting in a high signal for PEPCK, but membranes in general, the smooth endoplasmic reticulum in particular, were not identifiable as electron dense unit membranes. On the other hand, the vibratome sections of well-fixed tissue allowed good visualization of the ultrastructure of cellular organelles, with the smooth endoplasmic reticulum appearing as vesicles and tubules with electron dense unit membranes; however, the penetration of the gold-labeled antibody was limited to cells at the surface of the vibratome sections. In both procedures, PEPCK, as indicated by gold particles, is predominantly in the glycogen areas of the cytosome and not in mitochondria, nuclei, Golgi apparatus, or other cell organelles. Hepatocytes in periportal regions have a compact subcellular distribution of PEPCK shown by gold particles; hepatocytes in pericentral regions have a diffuse subcellular distribution of PEPCK and thus more scattered gold particles. When normal serum replaced the first antibody in the immunogold staining procedures, the background was very low.


1973 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Bartlett Bunge

The leading tips of elongating nerve fibers are enlarged into "growth cones" which are seen in tissue culture to continually undergo changes in conformation and to foster numerous transitory slender extensions (filopodia) and/or a veillike ruffling sheet. After explantation of 1-day-old rat superior cervical ganglia (as pieces or as individual neurons), nerve fibers and tips were photographed during growth and through the initial stages of aldehyde fixation and then relocated after embedding in plastic. Electron microscopy of serially sectioned tips revealed the following. The moving parts of the cone, the peripheral flange and filopodia, contained a distinctive apparently filamentous feltwork from which all organelles except membranous structures were excluded; microtubules were notably absent from these areas. The cone interior contained varied forms of agranular endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, vesicles, coated vesicles, mitochondria, microtubules, and occasional neurofilaments and polysomes. Dense-cored vesicles and lysosomal structures were also present and appeared to be formed locally, at least in part from reticulum. The possible roles of the various forms of agranular membranous components are discussed and it is suggested that structures involved in both the assembly and degradation of membrane are present in the cone. The content of these growing tips resembles that in sensory neuron growth cones studied by others.


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