Histochemical demonstration of disulfide groups in the neurohypophysis under normal and experimental conditions.

Abstract

SPECIFIC histochemical methods for demonstrating protein-bound sulfhydryl (Barrnett and Seligman, 1952; Barrnett, 1953a) and disulfide groups (Barrnett and Seligman, 1954a) have been recently developed. The distribution of sulfhydryls (Barrnett, 1953a) and disulfldes (Barrnett and Seligman, 1954a) was described in the tissues of albino rats and other animals. In the latter paper the possibility was raised that the sites of localization of disulfide containing protein hormones might be demonstrated in tissue sections if four criteria were satisfied. These would be: (1) that the hormone or its precursor contained disulfides; (2) that disulfides could be demonstrated by a specific method in tissues known to contain the hormone; (3) that available extracts of the hormone could be shown to be rendered insoluble by the same fixation as was applied to tissues and to stain by the same method for disulfides in vitro; (4) that physiological experiments would reveal alteration in the staining reaction in a predictab...