Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry

Rabbit antisera were raised against whole homogenate and a saline soluble fraction of C57BL mouse lung. After absorption with other mouse organs, both antisera gave specific staining of bronchiolar epithelial and single alveolar cells, using the indirect immunofluorescence and indirect immunoperoxidase techniques on both acetic-alcohol-fixed paraffin-embedded and unfixed frozen 5 micrometer sections. Improved resolution by light microscopy was achieved with 1 micrometer sections of formaldehyde-fixed Araldite-embedded material stained by an indirect immunoperoxidase method after the Araldite had been treated with saturated alcoholic NaOH for 5 min. Clara cells and type II pneumocytes were identifiable as sites of the lung-specific immune reaction. At the electron microscopic level the reaction was localized over the granules of bronchiolar Clara cells. The lamellar bodies of type II pneumocytes were extracted in the ultrathin sections and no immune reaction was observed.

Characteristics of thiol adducts formed by the fluorogenic maleimide, N-(4-(7-diethylamino-4-methylcoumarin-3-yl) phenyl) maleimide (CPM), (Sippel: J Histochem Cytochem 29:314, 1981) were determined in solution, on the epithelia in beef cornea paraffin sections, and with an egg white model. Absorption was found maximal at 385-390 nm with a molar absorbancy of not less than 30,000 cm2/mmol, while emission peaked at 465 nm; the spectra and output were hardly affected by hydrolytic opening of the succinimide ring. Fluorescence measured in an epi-illuminating microfluorometer faded rapidly at high magnifications, but the initial output from sections of increasing thickness under a 10 x objective was proportional to the thiol density (concentration x thickness) up to a limit equivalent to an absorbance of nearly 0.5 at 387 nm. The staining included less than 5% nonspecific fluorescence, as determined on duplicate sections blocked by 2,2'-dithiopyridine. Factors affecting the use of CPM for quantitation of both thiols and disulfides are discussed.

An alarm system for the detection of abnormal leukocytes using off-line data processing of the image of the peroxidase channel oscilloscope picture of the Hemalog-D is presented. The basic idea is that areas on the oscilloscope picture where more than a negligible number of nonpathological leukocytes may be depicted are delimited from the remaining area, which is divided into three alarm zones. The corresponding alarm quantities are the large unstained cells (LUC) or the unstained alarm (UA), the intermediate alarm (IA), and the stained alarm (SA). Reference intervals for these alarms were established using blood specimens from 15 healthy subjects. The system was tested using blood specimens from four patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 11 patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). The UA was the best alarm overall, but for seven of the AML specimens the IA or the SA alarm was superior. The high peroxidase (HPX) and the remainder alarms were inferior to the other alarms. Using the reference mean plus two standard deviations as a cutoff value, the smallest blast cell number fraction detectable by the best alarm was calculated to be smaller than 2% for each of the AML specimens, while it ranged from 7 to 2.9% for the ALL specimens.

Several important points of heme-peptide cytochemistry were quantitatively analyzed, with particular regard to their use in electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. A simple procedure is presented for the preparation of heme-octapeptide (H-8-P) microperoxidase. H-8-P, hemenonapeptide (H-9-P), and various horseradish peroxidase (HRP) isoenzymes were used for coupling with immunoglobulin (Ig)G or the papain-cleavage fragments from IgG (Fab) molecules. Ultracentrifugation and spectrophotometric analyses revealed the following characteristics of the conjugates: a) They are of a uniform size class; b) their diameters were calculated, and ranged from 5.6 (Fab-H-8-P; H-9-P) to 10.5 (IgG-HRP); c) the persistence of antigen binding capacity was ascertained; d) the deactivation of the marker peroxidase activity due to coupling was as low as 20-30%; e) optimal conditions for use of the electron microscopic (EM) with 3,3'-diaminobenzidine media were elaborated (with a pH optima somewhat different from some standard methods in current use); and f) on the basis of the quantitative data presented, an optimal compromise (either in favor of higher peroxidase activity with HRP conjugates or of smaller size with microperoxidase-Fab conjugates) can be achieved. Finally, the identification of isolated purified actin and of actin in cortical microfilament bundles and ciliary basal bodies of Paramecium cells served as a test object for the usefulness of conjugation products and optimized assay conditions for EM immunocytochemistry.

Four unlabeled antibody immunocytochemical techniques, the "single bridge" (Avrameas S: Immunocytochemistry 6:825, 1969; Mason TE, Phifer RF, Spicer SS, Swallow RS, Dreskin RD: J Histochem Cytochem 17:190, 1969a; Sternberger LA, Cuculis JJ: 1969), the "single peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP)" (Sternberger LA, Hardy PH Jr, Cuculis JJ, Meyer HG: J Histochem Cytochem 18:315, 1970), the "double PAP" (Vacca LL, Rosario SL, Zimmerman EA, Tomashefsky P, Ng P-Y, Hsu KC: J Histochem Cytochem 23:208, 1975) and the "double bridge" (Ordronneau P, Petrusz P: Am J Anat 158:491, 1980) were compared at both the light and electron microscopic levels. The "double" procedures involved repeating incubations with the bridge antibody, in this case, sheep anti-rabbit gamma globulin, followed either by a second PAP step for the "double PAP" or a second anti-horseradish peroxidase step and a single incubation in horseradish peroxidase for the "double bridge." At both the light and electron microscopic levels the staining intensity was greater with the "double" techniques than with the "single" ones. This is probably due to amplification achieved with the second sheep anti-rabbit gamma globulin step, permitting an increase in the number of horseradish peroxidase molecules bound for each molecule of tissue-bound primary antibody. Also, the quality of the various commercial PAP preparations tested was variable. With the weaker ones the staining intensity could be increased by performing an incubation in fresh horseradish peroxidase after the PAP step. Finally, in electron microscopic studies, the reaction products formed in both the bridge and PAP procedures were identical in shape and size.

Differences in regional aortic net uptake of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and horseradish peroxidase (HP) have been examined by means of conjugation of these molecules to the fluorescent protein tracers fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and lissamine rhodamine B (RB200). Using male Wistar rats, uptake of FITC-BSA under steady state conditions in the ascending aorta and aortic arch (14 +/- 2 micrograms/mg aorta) is significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than that of either the upper, middle, or lower third of the thoracic aorta (10 +/- 1 mu, 9 +/- 1 mu, and 8 +/- 1 micrograms/mg, respectively). No regional variation in net uptake of RB200-HP was observed in these same aortic regions, with respective mean values (+/- SE) being 69 +/- 2, 69 +/- 2, 68 +/- 4, and 68 +/- 4 micrograms/mg. Examination of fluorescence photomicrographs indicate that FITC-BSA is localized along the collagen-elastin bands, while the RB200-HP is found between these bands. Differences between FITC-BSA and RB200-HP uptake and deposition reflect such things as differences in uptake rates as influenced by initial concentrations, permeability coefficients, as well as possible differences in molecular charge and affinity. The results indicate that the fluorometric procedures described in this investigation are simple, sensitive, and quantitative, and suitable for simultaneous measurement of aortic uptake of molecules having different molecular sizes as well as for the intraaortic localization of these substances.

The submandibular glands of developing and adult mice were studied immunocytochemically by the unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase and the colloidal gold-protein A methods, using an antiserum to a highly purified esteroprotease (protease A, EC 3.4.4) of mouse submandibular gland origin. A thin subluminal rim of immunoreactivity, seen in striated duct cells throughout development, persisted in adulthood. From 15 days of age onwards, striated duct cells with diffuse cytoplasmic staining also occurred; such cells increased in number with age. A clear sexual dimorphism of the submandibular gland was first discernable by 25 days of age, when the developing granular convoluted tubule (GCT) cells of males were slightly larger than those of females; this size difference became more pronounced at later ages, resulting in a distinct dimorphism by 50 days of age. In adults, the principal sites of immunoreactivity were the GCTs, whose component cells stained with different intensities. Electron microscopic immunocytochemical techniques revealed that deposits of oxidized diaminobenzidine or particles of celloidal gold were restricted to the secretion granules of GCT cells; all other organelles were unstained. Acinar and intercalcated duct cells were negative.

The preparation and properties of a new microscopic model system for quantitative enzyme cytochemistry are described. The enzyme to be studied is entrapped in human erythrocyte ghosts by a simple hypotonic procedure. After fixation in suspension the ghosts can be analyzed both biochemically and cytochemically. The system has been tested with alkaline phosphatase. It is demonstrated that an azo method that uses naphthol AS-MX phosphate as substrate and 4-aminodiphenylamine diazonium salt as coupling agent can detect very low levels of enzymic activity. The biochemical activity determinations of alkaline phosphatase loaded erythrocyte ghosts were found to correlate linearly with cytophotometric activity determinations. The possible use of the erythrocyte ghost model system for other cytochemical applications is briefly discussed.

The development of the monoclonal antibody YC5/45 HLK (YC5/HLK) against a 5HT-bovine seroalbumin immunogen and its application for immunocytochemistry is described. The YC5/HLK antibody is the product of a rat x rat hybrid myeloma, producing a heavy chain and two light chains. In hemagglutination tests, the antibody cross-reacts to entirety with dopamine, serotonin, and tryptamine at high concentrations. The serotonin-albumin conjugate is 20,000 times more effective in displacing the binding antibody, while albumin itself goes unrecognized by the antibody. In fixed preparations of brain tissue, immunofluorescence is observed only in neurons known to contain serotonin, while no reaction is observed in dopamine-rich neurons. All immunofluorescence is extinguished by the use of agents that inhibit the biosynthesis of 5HT, but not of the catecholamines.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether glandular kallikrein in rat pancreas is located in the beta cells of the endocrine pancreas or in the acinar cells of the exocrine pancreas. Kallikrein was measured by radial immunodiffusion and a direct radioimmunoassay in homogenates of pancreas obtained from 1) control rats, 2) rats with pancreatic beta cells selectively destroyed by streptozotocin, and 3) rats with acinar cell atrophy induced by pancreatic duct occlusion. Beta cell destruction was confirmed by the presence of hyperglycemia and by an almost total depletion of insulin-producing cells as demonstrated immunohistochemically. Acinar cell atrophy was confirmed histologically and by an almost total depletion of trypsin-like enzymes in pancreatic homogenates. The concentration of kallikrein in pancreatic homogenates was unchanged after beta cell destruction, whereas it was greatly decreased following acinar cell atrophy. Kallikrein was, by immunohistochemistry, demonstrated in the acinar cell only. The immunohistochemical localization of kallikrein agrees with the above results. These studies strongly indicate that kallikrein is predominantly located in the acinar cells of the exocrine pancreas.

Ruthenium red staining of plasma membrane glycoproteins of confluent cultured arterial endothelial cells revealed that the limiting membrane of many apparently discrete cytoplasmic vesicles was continuous with the plasmalemma. Surface invaginations accessible to ruthenium red appeared as vesicles when sectioned out of the plane of attachment to the cell surface, Morphometric analysis of ruthenium red-positive (RR+) and ruthenium red-negative vesicles (RR-) indicated that 47.2% of the total apparent vesicle population was RR+ and that those infoldings accounted for 19.6 +/- 1.4% of the cell surface in transverse sections. Whereas 14.9% of the true vesicles (ruthenium red-negative) were coated vesicles, only 1.1% of RR+ "vesicles" were coated pits. These studies show that although many deep infoldings of the cell surface may be misinterpreted as vesicles, almost all are uncoated. The existence of discrete coated vesicles (independent of coated pits) in vascular endothelium in vitro is readily apparent.

A technical modification of the original histochemical methods for distinguishing human colonic acetylsialomucin from other epithelial mucins is described. The modification uses a naphthoic acid hydrazide-diazonium salt sequence in place of the original borohydride or blue Schiff treatments in the first stage of the staining procedure and a more dilute solution of periodic acid in the second stage. By these means, strongly contrasting staining of colonic acetylsialomucins in magenta red and all other mucins in dark blue may be consistently produced.