scholarly journals Observations on the Cytoplasmic Membranes of Testicular Cells, Examined by Phase Contrast and Electron Microscopy

1958 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don W. Fawcett ◽  
Susumu Ito

In freshly isolated cells of the guinea pig germinal epithelium examined with phase contrast, dark contours are seen in the cytoplasm that appear to be optical sections of the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum. These increase in contrast, in number, and in linear extent with increasing time up to 4 hours after isolation of the cells from the testis. During this period, cisternae originally present in the cells are extended and new ones appear to be formed by coalescence of tubular and vesicular elements of the reticulum. The cisternae become associated in parallel array and ultimately form elaborate concentric systems resembling structures that have often been interpreted as intracellular "myelin figures." Until now our knowledge of the endoplasmic reticulum has been based largely upon electron micrographs. The observation that the cisternae are visible in certain cell types under phase contrast optics opens the way for experimental investigations on the behavior of this class of cytoplasmic membranes in living cells.

2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (6) ◽  
pp. G1333-G1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana G. Voronina ◽  
Mark W. Sherwood ◽  
Oleg V. Gerasimenko ◽  
Ole H. Petersen ◽  
Alexei V. Tepikin

Here we describe a technique that allows us to visualize in real time the formation and dynamics (fusion, changes of shape, and translocation) of vacuoles in living cells. The technique involves infusion of a dextran-bound fluorescent probe into the cytosol of the cell via a patch pipette, using the whole-cell patch-clamp configuration. Experiments were conducted on pancreatic acinar cells stimulated with supramaximal concentrations of cholecystokinin (CCK). The vacuoles, forming in the cytoplasm of the cell, were revealed as dark imprints on a bright fluorescence background, produced by the probe and visualized by confocal microscopy. A combination of two dextran-bound probes, one infused into the cytosol and the second added to the extracellular solution, was used to identify endocytic and nonendocytic vacuoles. The cytosolic dextran-bound probe was also used together with a Golgi indicator to illustrate the possibility of combining the probes and identifying the localization of vacuoles with respect to other cellular organelles in pancreatic acinar cells. Combinations of cytosolic dextran-bound probes with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or mitochondrial probes were also used to simultaneously visualize vacuoles and corresponding organelles. We expect that the new technique will also be applicable and useful for studies of vacuole dynamics in other cell types.


1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARILYN L. ZIMNY ◽  
I. REDLER

Solitary enchondromas obtained from the small bones of the hand were studied with transmission electron microscopy. Three cell types were seen as follows: (1) young looking, active cells with extensive dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and well defined Golgi and mitochondria; (2) older looking, degenerating cells with dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum, well defined Golgi, glycogen masses, vacuoles containing tropocollagen, lipid and myelin figures; and (3) dying cells showing loss of cell membrane and lysosomal-like bodies. A young chondroblastic cell may try to mature, become a normal chondrocyte that produces normal matrix but it does not succeed and dies. Enchondromal cells are not capable of forming tropocollagen or synthesizing proteoglycans for the matrix.


Author(s):  
J. P. Petrali ◽  
E. J. Donati ◽  
L. A. Sternberger

Specific contrast is conferred to subcellular antigen by applying purified antibodies, exhaustively labeled with uranium under immunospecific protection, to ultrathin sections. Use of Seligman’s principle of bridging osmium to metal via thiocarbohydrazide (TCH) intensifies specific contrast. Ultrathin sections of osmium-fixed materials were stained on the grid by application of 1) thiosemicarbazide (TSC), 2) unlabeled specific antiserum, 3) uranium-labeled anti-antibody and 4) TCH followed by reosmication. Antigens to be localized consisted of vaccinia antigen in infected HeLa cells, lysozyme in monocytes of patients with monocytic or monomyelocytic leukemia, and fibrinogen in the platelets of these leukemic patients. Control sections were stained with non-specific antiserum (E. coli).In the vaccinia-HeLa system, antigen was localized from 1 to 3 hours following infection, and was confined to degrading virus, the inner walls of numerous organelles, and other structures in cytoplasmic foci. Surrounding architecture and cellular mitochondria were unstained. 8 to 14 hours after infection, antigen was localized on the outer walls of the viral progeny, on cytoplasmic membranes, and free in the cytoplasm. Staining of endoplasmic reticulum was intense and focal early, and weak and diffuse late in infection.


Author(s):  
Juan Mora-Galindo ◽  
Jorge Arauz-Contreras

The zinc iodide-osmium tetroxide (ZIO) technique is presently employed to study both, neural and non neural tissues. Precipitates depends on cell types and possibly cell metabol ism as well.Guinea pig cecal mucosa, already known to be composed of epithelium with cells at different maturation stages and lamina propria which i s formed by morphologically and functionally heterogeneous cell population, was studied to determine the pat tern of ZIO impregnation. For this, adult Guinea pg cecal mucosa was fixed with buffered 1.2 5% g 1 utara 1 dehyde before incubation with ZIO for 16 hours, a t 4°C in the dark. Further steps involved a quick sample dehydration in graded ethanols, embedding in Epon 812 and sectioning to observe the unstained material under a phase contrast light microscope (LM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM).


Author(s):  
R. W. Yaklich ◽  
E. L. Vigil ◽  
W. P. Wergin

The legume seed coat is the site of sucrose unloading and the metabolism of imported ureides and synthesis of amino acids for the developing embryo. The cell types directly responsible for these functions in the seed coat are not known. We recently described a convex layer of tissue on the inside surface of the soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) seed coat that was termed “antipit” because it was in direct opposition to the concave pit on the abaxial surface of the cotyledon. Cone cells of the antipit contained numerous hypertrophied Golgi apparatus and laminated rough endoplasmic reticulum common to actively secreting cells. The initial report by Dzikowski (1936) described the morphology of the pit and antipit in G. max and found these structures in only 68 of the 169 seed accessions examined.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7205
Author(s):  
Matheus V. C. Grahl ◽  
Augusto F. Uberti ◽  
Valquiria Broll ◽  
Paula Bacaicoa-Caruso ◽  
Evelin F. Meirelles ◽  
...  

Infection by Proteus mirabilis causes urinary stones and catheter incrustation due to ammonia formed by urease (PMU), one of its virulence factors. Non-enzymatic properties, such as pro-inflammatory and neurotoxic activities, were previously reported for distinct ureases, including that of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Here, PMU was assayed on isolated cells to evaluate its non-enzymatic properties. Purified PMU (nanomolar range) was tested in human (platelets, HEK293 and SH-SY5Y) cells, and in murine microglia (BV-2). PMU promoted platelet aggregation. It did not affect cellular viability and no ammonia was detected in the cultures’ supernatants. PMU-treated HEK293 cells acquired a pro-inflammatory phenotype, producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α. SH-SY5Y cells stimulated with PMU showed high levels of intracellular Ca2+ and ROS production, but unlike BV-2 cells, SH-SY5Y did not synthesize TNF-α and IL-1β. Texas Red-labeled PMU was found in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of all cell types. Bioinformatic analysis revealed two bipartite nuclear localization sequences in PMU. We have shown that PMU, besides urinary stone formation, can potentially contribute in other ways to pathogenesis. Our data suggest that PMU triggers pro-inflammatory effects and may affect cells beyond the renal system, indicating a possible role in extra-urinary diseases.


Zygote ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 432-435
Author(s):  
Thais Rose dos Santos Hamilton ◽  
Gabriela Esteves Duarte ◽  
José Antonio Visintin ◽  
Mayra Elena Ortiz D’Ávila Assumpção

SummaryLong-term heat stress (HS) induced by testicular insulation generates oxidative stress (OS) on the testicular environment; consequently activating antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). The aim of this work was to immunolocalize antioxidant enzymes present in different cells within the seminiferous tubule when rams were submitted to HS. Rams were divided into control (n = 6) and treated group (n = 6), comprising rams subjected to testicular insulation for 240 h. After the testicular insulation period, rams were subjected to orchiectomy. Testicular fragments were submitted to immunohistochemistry for staining against SOD, GR and GPx enzymes. We observed immunolocalization of GPx in more cell types of the testis after HS and when compared with other enzymes. In conclusion, GPx is the main antioxidant enzyme identified in testicular cells in an attempt to maintain oxidative balance when HS occurs.


1991 ◽  
Vol 273 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
J F Coquil ◽  
B Berthon ◽  
N Chomiki ◽  
L Combettes ◽  
P Jourdon ◽  
...  

The monohydroxy bile acid taurolithocholate permeabilizes the endoplasmic reticulum to Ca2+ in rat liver cells. To assess whether this action on the endoplasmic reticulum was restricted to this tissue, the effects of bile acid were investigated in two cell types quite unrelated to rat hepatocyte, namely human platelets and neuronal NG108-15 cell line. The results showed that taurolithocholate (3-100 microM) had no effect on free cytosolic [Ca2+] in human platelets and NG108-15 cells. whereas it increased it from 180 to 520 nM in rat hepatocytes. In contrast, in cells permeabilized by saponin, taurolithocholate initiated a profound release of the stored Ca2+ from the internal Ca2+ pools in the three cell types. The bile acid released 90% of the Ca2+ pools, with rate constants of about 5 min-1 and half-maximal effects at 15-30 microM. The results also showed that, in contrast with liver cells, which displayed an influx of [14C]taurolithocholate of 2 nmol/min per mg, human platelets and the neuronal cell line appeared to be resistant to [14C]taurolithocholate uptake. The influx measured in these latter cells was about 100-fold lower than in rat liver cells. Taken together, these data suggest that human platelets and NG108-15 cells do not possess the transport system for concentrating monohydroxy bile acids into cells. However, they show that human platelets and neuronal NG108-15 possess, in common with liver cells, the intracellular system responsible for taurolithocholate-mediated Ca2+ release from internal stores.


1960 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Ito

Spermatogenic cells of Drosophila virilis were studied by light and electron microscopy. The persistence of a "nuclear wall" during the meiotic divisions has been reported by a number of early cytologists, but this interpretation has been a subject of debate. Electron micrographs of dividing spermatocytes reveal the presence of multiple layers of paired membranes surrounding the nuclear region. These lamellar membrane systems are not typical of the nuclear envelope, but were interpreted as such by light microscopists. The membranes constituting a pair are separated by an interspace of ∼ 100 A and successive pairs are 200 to 400 A apart. These spacings are similar but not identical to those found in the lamellar systems of the Golgi complex. The cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum in this material are devoid of attached ribonucleoprotein particles, are more precisely ordered than in vertebrate cells, and show a uniform, narrow intracisternal space of ∼ 100 A. The conspicuous asters appear to be made up of similar paired membranes radiating from the centriolar region. The primary spermatocyte has numerous dictyosomes and a well developed endoplasmic reticulum in cisternal form, but no typical Golgi complex or endoplasmic reticulum is found during the meiotic division stages of metaphase to telophase. Evidence is presented that these cytoplasmic organelles contribute to the formation of the extensive lamellar systems that appear during meiosis. The results of the Golgi silver staining methods and staining tests for phospholipids, basophilia, and the PAS reaction, indicate that the lamellar arrays of membranes present during meiosis are indistinguishable from the Golgi complex in their tinctorial properties.


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