[The role of the Golgi apparatus in the secretory process. Autoradiographic study].
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Autoradiography↗
Biomedical subjects
G E PALADE
Publications and source records attributed to G E PALADE.
Segregation of ferritin in glomerular protein absorption droplets.
Ferritin was used as a tracer to study the mechanism by which proteins are segregated into droplets by the visceral epithelium of glomerular capillaries. In glomeruli from both normal and aminonucleoside-nephrotic rats ferritin molecules introduced into the general circulation penetrated the endothelial openings and were seen at various levels in the basement membrane. Striking differences between nephrotic and controls were seen only in the amount of ferritin incorporated into the epithelium. In normal animals, a few ferritin molecules were seen in small invaginations of the cell membrane limiting the foot processes, within minute vesicles in the epithelium, or within occasional large vacuoles and dense bodies. In nephrotics, epithelial pinocytosis was marked, and numerous ferritin molecules were seen within membrane invaginations and in small cytoplasmic vesicles at all time points. After longer intervals, the concentration of ferritin increased in vacuoles and particularly within the dense bodies or within structures with a morphology intermediate between that of vacuoles and dense bodies. In nephrotic animals cleft-like cavities or sinuses were frequently encountered along the epithelial cell surface facing the urinary spaces. Some of these sinuses contained material resembling that filling the dense bodies except that it appeared less compact. The findings suggest that ferritin molecules-and presumably other proteins which penetrate the basement membrane-are picked up by the epithelium in pinocytotic vesicles and transported via the small vesicles to larger vacuoles which are subsequently transformed into dense bodies by progressive condensation. The content of the dense bodies may then undergo partial digestion and be extruded into the urinary spaces where it disperses. The activity of the glomerular epithelium in the incorporation and segregation of protein is similar in normal and nephrotic animals, except that the rate is considerably higher in nephrosis where the permeability of the glomerular basement membrane is greatly increased.
Animals↗
A cytochemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. 5. In vivo incorporation of leucine-1-C14 into the chymotrypsinogen of various cell fractions.
CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN SYNTHESIS IN THE EXOCRINE CELL OF THE GUINEA PIG PANCREAS WAS STUDIED UNDER THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: Animals fed after a fast of approximately 48 hours received approximately 1 hour after feeding an intravenous injection of DL-leucine-1-C(14). At various time intervals (1 to 45 minutes) after the injection, the glands were removed and fractionated into a series of cell fractions of known cytological significance. Ten to twelve animals were used for each time point. From each cell fraction, the chymotrypsinogen was isolated by acid extraction and purified by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation, isoelectric precipitation, and chromatography. Because of the minuteness of the quantities involved, chymotrypsinogen amounts were calculated from enzymatic activity figures, and a carrier method was used to precipitate and count the enzyme. The chymotrypsinogen isolated from the attached ribonucleoprotein particles of the microsomal fraction had the highest specific radioactivity at the early time points (1 to 3 minutes). After long intervals (at 15 to 45 minutes), the specific radioactivity of the enzyme increased in the microsomal contents and finally in the zymogen granules. The results are compatible with the view that the chymotrypsinogen is synthesized in or on the attached RNP particles and subsequently transported to other cell compartments.
Animals↗
A cytochemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. 6. Release of enzymes and ribonucleic acid from ribonucleoprotein particles.
Ribonucleoprotein (RNP)(1) particles isolated by DOC treatment from pancreatic microsomes have a RNA content of 35 to 45 per cent of their dry weight. In the analytical ultracentrifuge about 85 per cent of the material has a sedimentation coefficient of approximately 85 S. These particles contain amylase, RNase, and trypsin-activatable proteolytic activities which cannot be washed off or detached by incubation in 0.44 M sucrose. The enzymes are released, however, by incubation in the presence of low concentrations of ATP, PP, or EDTA, and high concentrations of IP and AMP. At the same time, and at the same concentrations, approximately 80 per cent of the RNA and approximately 25 per cent of the protein of the particles becomes also non-sedimentable. The simultaneous addition of Mg(++) to the incubation medium prevents these losses. This finding, together with the observation that all the Mg(++) of the particles is released by the same agents, makes it likely that Mg(++) holds the particles together, and that its removal by the chelators used causes the particles to disintegrate. These findings are discussed in relation to the molecular structure of the RNP particles.
Amylases↗
Amino acid incorporation in vitro by ribonucleoprotein particles detached from guinea pig liver microsomes.
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Amino Acids↗
A cytochemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. IV. Chemical and metabolic investigation of the ribonucleoprotein particles.
Five ribonucleoprotein (RNP) fractions were isolated from the postmitochondrial supernatant of the pancreas of the guinea pig. Two were obtained from the microsomes which, by deoxycholate (DOC) treatment, were subdivided into a DOC-soluble and a DOC-insoluble fraction. The latter was taken to represent attached RNP particles. Two other fractions obtained from the microsomal supernatant supposedly represent free RNP particles existing as such in the cytoplasm, while a third fraction resisted sedimentation for 20 hours at 105,000 g and is considered to be a soluble nucleoprotein. These fractions exhibited different RNA/protein ratios and also different RNA turnover patterns, as determined after in vivo labelling with adenine-8-C(14). However, little discernible differences could be detected in the nucleotide composition of the RNA moieties of these RNP fractions. Amino acid-"activating" enzymes were found to occur in the fraction containing the soluble nucleoproteins. The discussion focuses on the relationships between these fractions and protein synthesis in the pancreas, using data given in this and a previous paper, and data contained in the literature.
Adenine↗
Enzymatic activity in the M band.
Experiments which combined histochemistry and electron microscopy were performed in studying the sites of enzymatic hydrolysis of thiolacetic acid in the presence of lead ions in diaphragmatic and cardiac muscle. It was found that in these striated muscles the electron opaque, final product of the histochemical reaction (PbS) was discretely deposited on the swelling of the thick elemental filaments that occurs at the M band. Additional sites of enzymatic activity occurred in mitrochondria and in round sarcoplasmic bodies. A reaction, probably non-enzymatic, also occurred in contraction bands in the area of the Z bands and in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. To ascertain the enzymatic nature of the reaction and to define the enzyme involved, control experiments were carried out and the effect of various esterase inhibitors was assayed. It is suggested that the M band enzyme is a cholinesterase, but the enzymes in the mitochondria and the sarcoplasmic bodies that hydrolyze the substrate appear to be different. A possible role of the M band enzyme is discussed.
Animals↗
A cyto-chemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. III. In vivo incorporation of leucine-1-C14 into the proteins of cell fractions.
DL-leucine-1-C(14) was administered by intracardiac injection to guinea pigs and its in vivo incorporation into the proteins of various pancreatic cell fractions followed over a period of 2 hours. The pancreas was homogenized in 0.88 M sucrose and fractionated by differential centrifugation to give nuclear, zymogen, mitochondrial, microsomal, postmicrosomal, and final supernatant fractions. The proteins of these fractions, obtained by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid followed by washing, were counted. The proteins of the microsomal fraction showed the highest early specific activity and were followed by those of the zymogen and mitochondrial fractions. The microsomal fraction was broken up into two subfractions: one consisting of detached RNP particles, the other representing mainly the microsomal content and membranes. The incorporation of labelled leucine into the proteins of microsomal subtractions and in those of postmicrosomal fractions was studied comparatively in the pancreas of fasted and fed guinea pigs as well as in the liver and pancreas of fasted animals. A tentative cytological picture of protein synthesis and transport based on these findings is presented.
Animals↗
A cytochemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. II. Functional variations in the enzymatic activity of microsomes.
Microsomes were isolated from the pancreas of starved and fed guinea pigs. In the first case, the gland was removed from animals starved for 48 hours; in the second, the pancreas was excised 1 hour after the beginning of a meal that ended a fast of 48 hours. These are referred to below as fed animals. In both cases the tissue was homogenized in 0.88 M sucrose and the microsomes obtained by centrifuging the mitochondrial supernatant at 105,000 g for 60 minutes. In starved animals the content of the endoplasmic reticulum of the exocrine cells and the content of the microsomes were found to be of low or moderate density. In fed guinea pigs the cavities of the reticulum frequently contained dense intracisternal granules and the microsomes were distinguished by a content of high density sometimes in the form of recognizable intracisternal granules. In starved animals, the microsomes were found to account for 5 to 20 per cent of the trypsin-activatable proteolytic activity and ribonuclease activity of the whole cell, whereas in fed animals they contained uniformly almost 30 per cent of these activities. In fed animals the dense, cohesive content of the microsomes (intracisternal granules) could be isolated by breaking up the microsomes with dilute (0.1 per cent) deoxycholate solutions and separating microsomal subfractions by differential centrifugation. The specific enzymatic activities of a heavy microsomal subfraction rich in intracisternal granules were almost equal to those of isolated purified zymogen granules. The ribonucleoprotein particles attached to the microsomal membranes could be isolated by the same technique and found also to exhibit some of the same enzymatic activities. Corresponding subfractions isolated from the microsomes of starved animals were considerably less active. The relevance of these findings for the synthesis and intracellular transport of protein in the exocrine cell of the pancreas is discussed.
Animals↗
A cytochemical study on the pancreas of the guinea pig. I. Isolation and enzymatic activities of cell fractions.
Pancreatic tissue, (guinea pig) homogenized in 0.88 M sucrose, was fractionated by differential centrifugation into a nuclear, zymogen, mitochondrial, microsomal, and final supernatant fraction. The components of the particulate fractions were identified with well known intracellular structures by electron microscopy. The fractions were analyzed for protein-N and RNA, and were assayed for RNase and trypsin-activatable proteolytic (TAPase) activity. The zymogen fraction accounted for 30 to 40 per cent of the total TAPase and RNase activities, and its specific enzymatic activities were 4 to 10 times higher than those of any other cell fraction. The zymogen fraction was cytologically heterogeneous; zymogen granules and mitochondria represented its main components. More homogeneous zymogen fractions, obtained by successive washing or by separation in a discontinuous density-gradient, had specific activities 2 to 4 times greater than the crude zymogen fractions. Chymotrypsinogen was isolated by column chromatography from pancreas homogenates and derived cell fractions. The largest amount was recovered in the zymogen fraction. The final supernatant had properties similar to those of the trypsin inhibitor described by Kunitz and Northrop.
Chymotrypsinogen↗
Applications of histochemistry to electron microscopy.
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Biochemical Phenomena↗
Histochemical demonstration of the sites of activity of dehydrogenase systems with the electron microscope.
In the present study a histochemical method demonstrating the activity of dehydrogenase systems was developed for electron microscopy, utilizing potassium tellurite as the hydrogen or electron acceptor. This reagent was used intravitally (intravenously, intraperitoneally, or intraluminally in hollow organs) or supravitally on small blocks of tissue for the demonstration of endogenous dehydrogenase activity. Blocks of tissue which had been frozen and thawed or which had been washed in 0.44 M sucrose to prevent endogenous activity, were used to demonstrate the activity of the succinic dehydrogenase system. In the latter case, the incubating medium contained tellurite, succinate, phosphate buffer, sucrose, and activators. The incubation was as performed either aerobically (with or without the addition of potassium cyanide) or anaerobically. The specificity and the enzymatic nature of the reactions were ascertained by appropriate control experiments. Reduced tellurite, the end product of this histochemical reaction, could be visualized in thin sections of osmium tetroxide-fixed, methacrylate-embedded tissues as crystals or fine particulate deposits of high density, localized on, or in close relationship to mitochondrial membranes. The results of these experiments are demonstrated, utilizing heart muscle (rat) as the source of the enzyme systems.
Animals↗
Structure and development of the chloroplast in Chlamydomonas. I. The normal green cell.
The cytoplasmic organization of a normal green strain of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardi has been investigated with the electron microscope using thin sections of OsO(4) fixed material. The detailed organization of the chloroplast has been of special interest. The chloroplast, a cup-shaped organelle, surrounded by a double membrane, consists of: (1) discs about 1 micron in diameter, considered to represent the basic structural unit of the chloroplast, and each composed of a pair of membranes joined at their ends to form a flat closed vesicle; the discs are grouped into stacks resembling the grana of higher plants; (2) matrix material of low density in which the discs are embedded; (3) starch grains; (4) the pyrenoid, a non-lamellar region associated with starch synthesis, and containing tubules which connect with the lamellae; (5) the eyespot, a differentiated region containing two or three plates of hexagonally packed, carotenoid-containing granules, located between discs, and associated with phototaxis. In addition to the chloroplast, the cytoplasm contains various membranous and granular components, including mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and dictyosomes, identified on the basis of morphological comparability with structures seen in animal cells. The nucleus, not investigated in detail in this study, contains a large, granular nucleolus and is surrounded by a nuclear envelope which is provided with pores and exhibits instances of continuity with the endoplasmic reticulum of the cytoplasm.
Carotenoids↗
Studies on the endoplasmic reticulum. III. Its form and distribution in striated muscle cells.
Several types of striated muscle have been examined by the technics of electron microscopy and the findings in myotome fibers of Amblystoma larvae, the sartorius, and cardiac muscle of the rat are reported on in some detail. Particular attention has been given to structural components of the interfibrillar sarcoplasm and most especially to a finely divided, vacuolar system known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This consists of membrane-limited vesicles, tubules, and cisternae associated in a continuous reticular structure which forms lace-like sleeves around the myofibrils. It shows a definable organization which repeats with each sarcomere of the fiber so that the entire system is segmented in phase with the striations of the associated myofibrils. Details of these repetitive patterns are presented diagrammatically in Text-figs. 1, 2, and 3 on pages 279, 283, and 288 respectively. The system is continuous across the fiber at the H band level and largely discontinuous longitudinally because of interruptions in the structure at the I and Z band levels. The structure of the system relates it to the endoplasmic reticulum of other cell types. The precise morphological relation of the reticulum to the myofibrils, with specializations opposite the different bands, prompts the supposition that the system is functionally important in muscle contraction. In this regard it is proposed that the membrane limiting the system is polarized like the sarcolemma and that the corresponding potential difference is utilized in the intracellular distribution of the excitatory impulse.
Animals↗
Pancreatic microsomes; an integrated morphological and biochemical study.
The pancreatic exocrine cell of the guinea pig has a voluminous endoplasmic reticulum distinguished by extensive association with small, dense particles, and by its orderly disposition in the basal region of the cell. In addition to the small, ( approximately 15 mmicro), dense particles attached to the limiting membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, numerous particles of similar appearance are found freely scattered in the cytoplasmic matrix. The various cell structures of pancreatic exocrine cells can be satisfactorily identified in pancreatic homogenates. The microsome fraction consists primarily of spherical vesicles (80 to 300 mmicro), limited by a thin membrane (7 mmicro) which bears small ( approximately 15 mmicro) dense particles attached on its outer surface. The content of the microsomal vesicles is usually of high density. Pancreatic microsomes derive by extensive fragmentation mainly from the rough surfaced parts of the endoplasmic reticula of exocrine cells. A few damaged mitochondria and certain dense granules ( approximately 150 mmicro) originating probably from islet cells, contaminate the microsome fraction. Pancreatic microsomes contain RNA, protein, and a relatively small amount of phospholipide and hemochromogen. They do not have DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity. In six experiments the RNA/protein N ratios were found grouped around two different means, namely 0.6 and 1.3. Pancreatic microsomes are more labile than liver microsomes but react in a similar way to RN-ase-(loss of the particulate component and RNA), and deoxycholate treatment (loss of the membranous component and of phospholipide, hemochromogen, and most of the protein). Postmicrosomal fractions consisting primarly of small ( approximately 15 mmicro), dense particles of ribonucleoprotein (RNA/protein N ratio = 1 to 2) were obtained by further centrifugation of the microsomal supernatant. The small nucleoprotein particles of these fractions are frequently found associated in chains or clusters.
Animals↗
Intracisternal granules in the exocrine cells of the pancreas.
Dense, homogeneous granules of 250 to 350 mmicro in diameter have been found inside the cavities of the endoplasmic reticulum in the acinar cells of the pancreas of the guinea pig. They apparently correspond to the fine granules described in the same material in light microscopy by Mankowski and Bensley. The location of these granules indicates that the endoplasmic reticulum is a cavitary system and suggests its participation in secretory processes.
Animals↗
Liver microsomes; an integrated morphological and biochemical study.
Rat liver, liver homogenates, and microsome fractions separated therefrom were examined systematically in the electron microscope in sections of OsO(4)-fixed, methacrylate-embedded tissue and pellets. It was found that most microsomes are morphologically identical with the rough surfaced elements of the endoplasmic reticula of hepatic cells. They appear as isolated, membrane-bound vesicles, tubules, and cisternae which contain an apparently homogeneous material of noticeable density, and bear small, dense particles (100 to 150 A) attached to their outer aspect. In solutions of various osmolar concentrations they behave like osmometers. The findings suggest that they derive from the endoplasmic reticulum by a generalized pinching-off process rather than by mechanical fragmentation. The microsome fractions contain in addition relatively few vesicles free of attached particles, probably derived from the smooth surfaced parts of the endoplasmic reticula. Dense, peribiliary bodies represent a minor component of the same fractions. The microsomes derived from 1 gm. wet weight liver pulp contained (averages of 10 experiments) 3.09 mg. protein N, 3.46 mg. RNA (RNA/protein N = 1.12), and 487 microg. phospholipide P. They displayed DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity and contained an alcohol-soluble hemochromogen. The microsome preparations proved resistant to washing and "aging." Treatment with versene and incubation with ribonuclease (30 minutes at 37 degrees C.) resulted in appreciable losses of RNA and in partial or total disappearance of attached particles. Treatment with deoxycholate (0.3 to 0.5 per cent, pH = 7.5) induced a partial clarification of the microsome suspensions which, upon centrifugation, yielded a small pellet of conglomerated small, dense particles (100 to 150 A) with only occasionally interspersed vesicles. The pellet contained approximately 80 to 90 per cent of the RNA and approximately 20 per cent of the protein N of the original microsomes. The supernatant accounted satisfactorily for the materials lost during deoxycholate treatment. The findings suggest that the microsomal RNA is associated with the small particles whereas most of the protein and nearly all of the phospholipide, hemochromogen, and DPNH-cytochrome c reductase activity are associated with the membrane or content of the microsomes.
Animals↗