Abstract
Two acid hydrolytic enzymes, acid phosphatase and an esterase resistant to diethyl- p-nitrophenyl phosphate (E-600), were demonstrated by cytochemical methods in keratinized oral epithelium from man and the rat. Both enzymes were present in basal and prickle cells in Golgi vesicles and membrane-bounded bodies resembling lysosomes. In cells of the granular layer, reaction product was seen in membrane-bounded vesicles which were associated with mitochondria, and in small striated or lamellate granules usually adjacent to the plasma membrane. In the superficial granular layer and stratum corneum, enzyme reaction product was found in material lying between the cells. Lysosomes containing both enzymes were present in Langerhans cells and acid phosphatase was present around melanosomes in prickle and basal epithelial cells. The results provide good evidence for the presence of lysosomes in keratinizing oral epithelium and the enzymes present in them probably participate in lysis of organelles, and possibly in the processes of keratinization and cell separation before desquamation.
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