scholarly journals ENZYMATIC DIGESTION IN THE CYTOCHEMICAL DEMONSTRATION OF GLYCOGEN

1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
FORTUNATO ROSA ◽  
FRANK B. JOHNSON

Mounted ultrathin sections of rat fetal gastric mucosa and liver tissue, fixed in osmium tetroxide or glutaraldehyde and embedded in epoxy resin, are suitable for the cytochemical demonstration of glycogen by staining either with lead or by the periodic acid-thiosemicarbazide procedure. Enzymatic digestion with saliva or α-amylase can be performed on mounted sections of similarly treated tissues for the selective removal of glycogen prior to staining.

Author(s):  
Judith A. Murphy ◽  
Mary R. Thompson ◽  
A.J. Pappelis

In an attempt to identify polysaccharide components in thin sections of D. maydis, procedures were employed such that a PAS localization could be carried out. Three different fixatives were evaluated ie. glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde and paraformaldehyde. These were used in conjunction with periodic acid (PA), thiosemicarbazide(TSC), and osmium tetroxide(Os) to localize polysaccharides in V. maydis using a pre-embedded reaction procedure. Polysaccharide localization is based on the oxidation of vic-glycol groups by PA, and the binding of TSC as a selective reaction center for the formation of osmium black. The reaction product is sufficiently electron opaque, insoluble in lipids, not altered when tissue is embedded, and has a fine amorphous character.


Author(s):  
Vinci Mizuhira ◽  
Hiroshi Hasegawa

Microwave irradiation (MWI) was applied to 0.3 to 1 cm3 blocks of rat central nervous system at 2.45 GHz/500W for about 20 sec in a fixative, at room temperature. Fixative composed of 2% paraformaldehyde, 0.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer at pH 7.4, also contained 2 mM of CaCl2 , 1 mM of MgCl2, and 0.1% of tannic acid for conventional observation; and fuether 30-90 mM of potassium oxalate containing fixative was applied for the detection of calcium ion localization in cells. Tissue blocks were left in the same fixative for 30 to 180 min after MWI at room temperature, then proceeded to the sampling procedure, after postfixed with osmium tetroxide, embedded in Epon. Ultrathin sections were double stained with an useal manner. Oxalate treated sections were devided in two, stained and unstained one. The later oxalate treated unstained sections were analyzed with electron probe X-ray microanalyzer, the EDAX-PU-9800, at 40 KV accelerating voltage for 100 to 200 sec with point or selected area analyzing methods.


Author(s):  
Daniel C. Pease

It is reasonable to think that phospholipid micelles should be visible and identifiable in electron micrographs of ultrathin sections if only they can be preserved throughout the embedding process. The development of highly polar, water-containing, aminoplastic embedments has made this a likely possibility. With this in mind, an investigation of the lecithin-secreting, Type II pneumocytes of the lung is underway.Initially it has been easiest to recognize phospholipid micelles in lung tissue fixed first with glutaraldehyde, and then secondarily exposed to osmium tetroxide. However, the latter is not a necessary concomitant for micellar preservation. Conventional uranyl acetate and lead citrate staining is finally applied. Importantly, though, the micelles have been most easily seen in tissue embedded in 507. glutaraldehyde polymerized with urea, as described in detail by D.C. Pease and R.G. Peterson (J. Ultra- struct. Res., 41, 133, 1972). When oriented appropriately, the micellar units are seen as tiny, bilayer plates.


Author(s):  
K. S. Zaychuk ◽  
M. H. Chen ◽  
C. Hiruki

Wheat spot mosaic (WSpM), which frequently occurs with wheat streak mosaic virus was first reported in 1956 from Alberta. Singly isolated, WSpM causes chlorotic spots, chlorosis, stunting, and sometimes death of the wheat plants. The vector responsible for transmission is the eriophyid mite, Eriophyes tulipae Kiefer. The examination of leaf ultrastructure by electron microscopy has revealed double membrane bound bodies (DMBB’s) 0.1-0.2 μm in diameter. Dispersed fibrils within these bodies suggested the presence of nucleic acid. However, neither ribosomes characteristic of bacteria, mycoplasma and the psittacosis group of organisms nor an electron dense core characteristic of many viruses was commonly evident.In an attempt to determine if the DMBB’s contain nucleic acids, RNase A, DNase I, and lactoferrin protein were conjugated with 10 nm colloidal gold as previously described. Young root and leaf tissues from WSpM-affected wheat plants were fixed in glutaraldehyde, postfixed in osmium tetroxide,and embedded in Spurr’s resin.


Author(s):  
Seiji Shioda ◽  
Yasumitsu Nakai ◽  
Atsushi Ichikawa ◽  
Hidehiko Ochiai ◽  
Nobuko Naito

The ultrastructure of neurosecretory cells and glia cells in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) of the hypothalamus and the neurohypophysis (PN) was studied after rapid freezing followed by substituion fixation. Also, the ultrastructural localization of vasopressin (VP) or its carrier protein neurophys in II (NPII) in the SON and PN was demonstrated by using a post-embedding immunoco1loidal gold staining method on the tissue sections processed by rapid freezing and freeze-substitution fixation.Adult male Wistar rat hypothalamus and pituitary gland were quenched by smashing against a copper block surface precooled with liquid helium and freeze-substituted in 3% osmium tetroxide-acetone solutions kept at -80°C for 36-48h. After substituion fixation, the tissue blocks were warmed up to room temperature, washed in acetone and then embedded in an Epon-Araldite mixture. Ultrathin sections mounted on 200 mesh nickel grids were immersed in saturated sodium metaperiodate and then incubated in each of the following solutions: 1 % egg albumin in phosphate buffer, VP or NPII (1/1000-1/5000) antiserum 24h at 4°C, 3) colloidal gold solution (1/20) 1h at 20°C. The sections were washed with distilled waterand dried, then stained with uranylacetate and lead citrate and examined with Hitachi HU-12A and H-800 electron microscopes.


1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Silk ◽  
A. O. Hawtrey ◽  
I. M. Spence ◽  
J. H. S. Gear

A technic is described for high resolution intracellular autoradiography in the electron microscope. Cultures of LLC-MK2 monkey kidney cells were incubated for 72 hours in a medium containing 0.4 µcurie per ml of thymidine-H3. After labeling, the cells were fixed with osmium tetroxide and embedded in methacrylate. Ultrathin sections of the labeled tissue were taken up on Formvar-coated and carbon-stabilized electron microscope grids. A 150 to 450 A layer of silver metal was then evaporated onto the tissue. The coated grids were exposed to bromine vapor for 1.5 to 2 minutes under red light, allowed to dry for 1 minute, and then covered with a thin film of 1 per cent aqueous gelatin applied by means of a fine wire loop lowered over the grid supported on a glass peg. For autoradiographic exposure, the grids were stored 50 days in a light-proof container at 4°C with calcium chloride desiccant. Development was carried out for 5 minutes at 20°C in Promicrol (May and Baker, England) diluted 1:1 with water, followed by a 1 minute water wash and fixation for 2.5 minutes in 15 per cent aqueous sodium thiosulphate. After removal of the gelatin by immersion for 16 hours in water at 37°C, the autoradiograms were dried and examined in the electron microscope. Ultrastructural detail was fairly well defined and the cytoplasm of each labeled cell was covered with an electron opaque deposit of silver, suggesting that a polynucleotide containing thymidine may be synthesized in the cytoplasm. The matter is discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (6) ◽  
pp. G1061-G1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Berg ◽  
Stefan Redéen ◽  
Magnus Grenegård ◽  
Ann-Charlott Ericson ◽  
Sven Erik Sjöstrand

We have previously identified cells containing the enzyme nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) in the human gastric mucosa. Moreover, we have demonstrated that endogenous and exogenous NO has been shown to decrease histamine-stimulated acid secretion in isolated human gastric glands. The present investigation aimed to further determine whether this action of NO was mediated by the activation of guanylyl cyclase (GC) and subsequent production of cGMP. Isolated gastric glands were obtained after enzymatic digestion of biopsies taken from the oxyntic mucosa of healthy volunteers. Acid secretion was assessed by measuring [14C]aminopyrine accumulation, and the concentration of cGMP was determined by radioimmunoassay. In addition, immunohistochemistry was used to examine the localization of cGMP in mucosal preparations after stimulation with the NO donor S-nitroso- N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP). SNAP (0.1 mM) was shown to decrease acid secretion stimulated by histamine (50 μM); this effect was accompanied by an increase in cGMP production, which was histologically localized to parietal cells. The membrane-permeable cGMP analog dibuturyl-cGMP (db-cGMP; 0.1–1 mM) dose dependently inhibited acid secretion. Additionally, the effect of SNAP was prevented by preincubating the glands with the GC inhibitor 4 H-8-bromo-1,2,4-oxadiazolo[3,4-d]benz[b][1,4]oxazin-1-one (10 μM). We therefore suggest that NO in the human gastric mucosa is of physiological importance in regulating acid secretion. Furthermore, the results show that NO-induced inhibition of gastric acid secretion is a cGMP-dependent mechanism in the parietal cell involving the activation of GC.


1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLA JORDAN ◽  
JULIA NEWTON ◽  
JEFFREY PEARSON ◽  
ADRIAN ALLEN

1.The observed thickness of the gastric mucus barrier varies widely, even appearing discontinuous, depending on the methods used. Here we describe the development and application of a modified periodic acid Schiff/Alcian Blue staining technique for use on cryostat sections of gastric mucosa. This technique for the first time enables the preservation and visualization of the full thickness of the adherent gastric mucus layer and the underlying mucosa. 2.In designing this novel method we have selected those procedures which would result in the least alteration to the mucus layer. The methods used were snap freezing, cryostat sectioning of the whole stomach followed by brief ethanol pretreatment (10 min in 100% ethanol), a prolonged staining with periodic acid Schiff/Alcian Blue (15 min and 2.5 h respectively), a gentle post-fixation (45 min paraformaldehyde vapour at 37 °C) and the use of a water-soluble mountant. 3.A continuous, adherent mucus layer was observed over the surface of the rat gastric mucosa (periodic acid Schiff/Alcian Blue stained) and human gastric antral biopsies (periodic acid Schiff stained). In the rat the mean (S.D.) mucus thickness measurements along the antrum to oesophageal axis (which was divided histologically into four regions, A to D) were: A, 166 (47) μm; B, 179 (48) μm; C, 184 (50) μm; D (the non-glandular stratified epithelium at the top of the stomach), Absent. In human gastric antral biopsies the mean (S.D.) mucus thickness was 144 (52) μm. 4.This new technique has enabled the visualization and precise measurement of thickness of the gastric mucus layer in rat and man. The adherent gastric mucus layer was observed to be continuous in the rat glandular stomach and human antrum. In validation experiments in rat the mean mucus thickness measurements were found to be twice those measured by conventional histological techniques, in which the mucus layer appeared discontinuous and patchy. However, they were within the range of thickness values seen in unfixed tissues and in the rat in vivo preparation.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
E morqenstern ◽  
H Patscheke

It is widely held, that the constituents packed in the a -granules are released by stimulated platelets via the surface connected system (SCS). By means of the fast-freezing and freeze substitution technique (which allow the investigation of membrane fusion) we found a secretory pathway in platelets (compound exocytosis) without an involvement of the SCS during the release of a-granules. To study the process of a-granule secretion human platelets concentrated in citrated blood plasm were stimulated with thrombin or collagen. 20 - 120 seconds after stimulation the platelets were rapidly frozen with a metal-mirror attachment to the KF 80 cryofixation unit (REICHERT-JUNG). Using plastic spacers droplets of the PRP were slammed against a copper block at 80 K at a rate of 0.2 m/sec. After cryofixation the specimens were transferred (in liquid nitrogen) into a Cs-auto cryosubstitution unit (REICHERT-JUNG). Cryosubstitution was programmed for 48h at 193 K in acetone with 4% osmium tetroxide. The temperature went automatically up to room temperature at a rate of 10 K/h. The specimens were embedded in araldite. The analysis of serial ultrathin sections of platelets in different phases of exocytosis revealed the following. a -granules in apposition showed different stages of swelling and dispersal of their electron dense matrix. Membrane appositions were also found between a -granules. The contraction of a sphere of microfilaments and microtubules during stimulation seemed to support this process. On the other hand this internal contraction prevented most of the a-granules from contacting with the plasmalemma. We observed fusion between swollen -granules in apposition and the plasmalemma and swollen and unswollen a -granules. Thus, large compound granules were formed frequently before fusion of the secretory organelles with the plasmalemma took place. These observations suggested that a -granules in stimulated platelets performed a compound exocytosis after swelling. The process seemed to start with the apposition of a -granule membranes to the plasmalemma. It cannot yet be answered whether the swelling of the granules is due to an osmotically driven influx of water or due to an influx after microfusion.Supported by DFG, Grant Mo 124/2-4


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