The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol 65, 463-469, Copyright © 1975 by The Rockefeller University Press
Localization and characterization of carbohydrates in adrenal medullary cells
M Cantin and S Benchimol
The localization and characterization of carbohydrates in adrenal medullary
cells were studied by histochemical and cytochemical methods. Adrenaline
(A)-and noradrenaline (N)-storing granules were argentaphobic when
ultrathin sections of Araldite-embedded medullae were stained according to
the periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate technique of Thiery.
A small amount of glycogen in the form of single beta-particles as well as
lysosomes were, however, visualized by this technique. The entire core of
the A granules was markedly positive after ultrathin sections of
glutaraldehyde-fixed, glycol methacrylate (GMA)-embedded medullae were
stained with phosphotungstic acid (PTA) at low pH (0.3). The N granules, in
contrast, were mostly unreactive. In the A cells, PTA stained a large part
of the Golgi complex, whereas in the N cells the Golgi complex was mostly
unstained. In both cell types, the cell coat, lysosomes, and
multivesticular bodies reacted to PTA. The periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)
technique showed A but not N granules in semithin sections of GMA- or
Araldite-embedded medullae. The PTA and PAS stains were abolished by
acetylation, restored by saponification, unchanged by methylation, and
greatly diminished by sulfation. In ultrathin sections of GMA- or Araldite-
embedded medullae incubated with colloidal iron according to various
techniques, the cell coat and lysosomes of both cell types were stained,
unlike all the other cytoplasmic organelles. These results indicate that A
granules and the Golgi complex of A cells, unlike the same structures in N
cells, are rich in glycoproteins which are probably not acidic.
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