scholarly journals Immunodetection of RNA on ultra-thin sections incubated with polyadenylate nucleotidyl transferase.

1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 657-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Thiry

A new method is described for locating RNA on ultra-thin sections. Sections of aldehyde-fixed, plastic-embedded cells were incubated in a medium containing polyadenylate nucleotidyl transferase (PnT) and biotinylated ATP. The labeled nucleotides bound to RNA at the surface of the ultra-thin sections were than visualized by an indirect immunogold labeling technique. The resulting labeling pattern was dependent on the presence of divalent cations in the PnT medium. The method revealed with great precision the specific RNA-containing structures within Ehrlich tumor cells. The method is applicable to Epon sections. However, the labeling intensity varies according to the fixation used. Best results were obtained on acetylated cell sections. The method can be combined with EDTA regressive staining. The in situ PnT method provides a very useful tool for pinpointing the precise location of RNA within biological material at the ultrastructural level.

1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Thiry

A new method is described for locating DNA on ultra-thin sections. Sections of aldehyde-fixed, plastic-embedded cells were incubated in a medium containing terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) and various non-isotopic nucleotide analogues. The labeled nucleotides bound to the surface of ultra-thin sections were then visualized by an indirect immunogold labeling technique. The resulting labeling pattern was strongly dependent on the divalent cation used in the TdT medium. The method revealed with great precision the specific DNA-containing structures within Ehrlich tumor cells, even where DNA was present in very low amounts. The method is compatible with all usual fixation and embedding procedures and can be combined with cytochemical methods. The in situ TdT method provides a very useful tool for pinpointing the precise location of DNA within biological material at the ultrastructural level.


1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 871-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Thiry

The in situ nick translation method was adapted to the ultrastructural level, to study the location of DNAse I-sensitive sequences within the cell. Ultra-thin sections of Lowicryl-embedded cells were incubated in a medium containing DNAse I, DNA polymerase I, and all four deoxyribonucleotides, some being biotinylated. The nick-translated sites were then visualized by an indirect immunogold labeling technique. The resulting labeling pattern is closely dependent on the DNAse I concentration in the nick-translation medium. The method reveals with great precision the specific DNAse I-sensitive regions within the nucleus. This technique can be used to discriminate between active and inactive regions of interphase chromatin.


1993 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Thiry

The precise distribution of DNA and RNA within the human Sertoli cell nucleolus has been investigated, at the ultrastructural level, by cytochemical and molecular immunocytochemical techniques. In Sertoli cells, the nucleolar components show a typical spatial distribution. The fibrillar centres are not surrounded by a layer of dense fibrillar component, but come in contact only with strands of dense fibrillar component. These fibrillar parts of strands are the extensions of granular strands connected to a large granular mass. These strands delimit numerous nucleolar interstices in which chromatin fibres are clearly obvious. Using the in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase/immunogold procedure for detecting DNA, we find evident label exclusively over the chromatin fibres enclosed in the nucleolar interstices and over the fibrillar centres, and no significant label over the dense fibrillar component and granular component of the nucleolus. Furthermore, using the polyadenylate nucleotidyl transferase/immunogold procedure for detecting RNA, we show that label is deposited not only over the granular component and dense fibrillar component, as expected, but also quite obviously over the fibrillar centres. No label is seen over the interstices containing chromatin.


1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 979-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Le Guellec ◽  
A Trembleau ◽  
C Pechoux ◽  
F Gossard ◽  
G Morel

In situ hybridization at the ultrastructural level can be carried out using three different methods: on vibratome sections before embedding in epoxy resin, on ultra-thin frozen sections, or on ultra-thin sections of tissues embedded in hydrophilic resin such as Lowicryl. With the purpose of comparing the sensitivity, resolution, and ultrastructural preservation of these three methods, we examined the expression of the growth hormone (GH) gene in anterior pituitary cells by in situ hybridization at the ultrastructural level, using a synthetic oligonucleotide complementary to the codons of the mRNA from Gln 45 to Ser 54 labeled at the 3' end of biotin-21dUTP. All these methods gave similar results: mRNA was located on the lamellar endoplasmic reticulum of somatotrophs. The pre-embedding method gave the best ultrastructural preservation, with low resolution with the enzymatic detection system and an intermediate sensitivity. A probe concentration of 10 pmol/ml was sufficient to obtain a signal. With this method gold particles could not be used without pre-treatment. The frozen section method gave the best sensitivity (a signal was observed with 4 pmol/ml of probe) but the lowest ultrastructural preservation. On ultra-thin Lowicryl sections, resolution was as high as with the frozen-section method, ultrastructural conservation was intermediate, and sensitivity was low. These results indicate that the last method seems to be a good compromise between sensitivity and ultrastructural preservation.


Author(s):  
Joseph E. Mazurkiewicz

Immunocytochemistry is a powerful investigative approach in which one of the most exacting examples of specificity, that of the reaction of an antibody with its antigen, isused to localize tissue and cell specific molecules in situ. Following the introduction of fluorescent labeled antibodies in T950, a large number of molecules of biological interest had been studied with light microscopy, especially antigens involved in the pathogenesis of some diseases. However, with advances in electron microscopy, newer methods were needed which could reveal these reactions at the ultrastructural level. An electron dense label that could be coupled to an antibody without the loss of immunologic activity was desired.


Author(s):  
S. Q. Xiao ◽  
S. Baden ◽  
A. H. Heuer

The avian eggshell is one of the most rapidly mineralizing biological systems known. In situ, 5g of calcium carbonate are crystallized in less than 20 hrs to fabricate the shell. Although there have been much work about the formation of eggshells, controversy about the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the calcite crystals, and their texture in the eggshell, still remain unclear. In this report the microstructure and microchemistry of avian eggshells have been analyzed using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).Fresh white and dry brown eggshells were broken and fixed in Karnosky's fixative (kaltitanden) for 2 hrs, then rinsed in distilled H2O. Small speckles of the eggshells were embedded in Spurr medium and thin sections were made ultramicrotome.The crystalline part of eggshells are composed of many small plate-like calcite grains, whose plate normals are approximately parallel to the shell surface. The sizes of the grains are about 0.3×0.3×1 μm3 (Fig.l). These grains are not as closely packed as man-made polycrystalline metals and ceramics, and small gaps between adjacent grains are visible indicating the absence of conventional grain boundaries.


Author(s):  
B.A. Hamkalo ◽  
S. Narayanswami ◽  
A.P. Kausch

The availability of nonradioactive methods to label nucleic acids an the resultant rapid and greater sensitivity of detection has catapulted the technique of in situ hybridization to become the method of choice to locate of specific DNA and RNA sequences on chromosomes and in whole cells in cytological preparations in many areas of biology. It is being applied to problems of fundamental interest to basic cell and molecular biologists such as the organization of the interphase nucleus in the context of putative functional domains; it is making major contributions to genome mapping efforts; and it is being applied to the analysis of clinical specimens. Although fluorescence detection of nucleic acid hybrids is routinely used, certain questions require greater resolution. For example, very closely linked sequences may not be separable using fluorescence; the precise location of sequences with respect to chromosome structures may be below the resolution of light microscopy(LM); and the relative positions of sequences on very small chromosomes may not be feasible.


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