PAS-lead hematoxylin as a stain for small-granule endocrine cell populations in the lungs, other pharyngeal derivatives and the gut
- 30 September 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in The Anatomical Record
- Vol. 192 (2), 245-259
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.1091920205
Abstract
Epithelial cells of the several subtypes that comprise the small-granule cell population of the respiratory system are little studied, partly because adequate silver, monoamine fluorescence and other specific light microscopical preparations have been more difficult to obtain than in the gut and other organs possessing diffuse endocrine systems. Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) in combination with MacConaill-Solcia's lead hematoxylin has in our hands proven dependable for routine staining of serial 2-m̈m glycol methacrylate sections used in mapping the distributions of these cells along the airway. In lungs of mice, hamsters, kittens, and fetal rabbits, typical small-granule cells stain weakly or not at all with lead hematoxylin alone, hence are easily overlooked. PAS adds to the cytoplasm a diffuse magenta coloration; and because it is diastase-resistant, less brilliant than that of mucus but more so than bronchiolar cell secretions, and finer textured than lysosomal staining of other cells present, the effect is to highlight small-granule cells whether solitary or in clusters. Additional PAS staining of basement membranes and lead hematoxylin staining of cilia enhance the combined stain's resolving power. In thyroid gland, parafollicular cells stand out boldly against follicular elements; in small intestine, hematoxylin-positive endocrine cells are well differentiated from absorptive, mucous, and Paneth cells that surround them. Using a complementary monoamine fluorescence technique on plastic sections of lungs from control and 5-hydroxytryptophan-pretreated animals prior to staining, we can show that fluorescent epithelial cells are identical with those stained by PAS-lead hema-toxylin.This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Intrapulmonary neuro-epithelial bodies in newborn rabbitsCell and tissue research, 1977
- Endocrine-like cells of the pulmonary epithelium of the human adult lungCell and tissue research, 1977
- Neuroepithelial Bodies in Mammalian Respiratory Mucosa: Light Optical Histochemical and Ultrastructural StudiesChest, 1974
- Distribution of thyroid, parathyroid, and ultimobranchial hypocalcemic factors in birds. II. Morphology, Histochemistry, and hypocalcemic activity of pigeon thyroid glandsThe Anatomical Record, 1973
- Electron microscopic identification of several types of endocrine cells in the bronchial epithelium of human foetusesCell and tissue research, 1973
- Neuro-epithelial bodies in the respiratory mucosa of various mammalsCell and tissue research, 1972
- THE CYTOCHEMISTRY AND ULTRASTRUCTURE OF POLYPEPTIDE HORMONE-PRODUCING CELLS OF THE APUD SERIES AND THE EMBRYOLOGIC, PHYSIOLOGIC AND PATHOLOGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE CONCEPTJournal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, 1969
- THE ENDOCRINE CELLS IN THE EPITHELIUM OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSA OF THE RATThe Journal of cell biology, 1969
- Embedding Media for 1–2 Micron Sectioning. 2. Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate Combined with 2-ButoxyethanolStain Technology, 1967
- Histological Demonstration of Mucin after Periodic AcidNature, 1946