Golgi Substance Research Articles

The Golgi substance.

IN Nature of August 111, Dr. A. J. Dalton described the appearance under the electron-microscope of the ‘Golgi substance’ in cells of the mammalian intestinal epithelium and liver. During a period of many years I have devoted a great deal of attention to the part of the intestinal epithelial cell studied by Dr. Dalton and have reported my results in full2.

Observations of the Golgi substance with the electron microscope.

OBSERVATIONS by several investigators during the past few years lend support to the view that the Golgi substance is present in living cells in the form of droplets stainable supra-vitally with certain vital dyes1–4. The classical form of the Golgi substance has been considered to be a gross artefact induced by the development of myelin figures from droplets of phospholipid3,4. This view has been accepted by some5–7 and questioned by others8,9. It was felt that observations with the electron microscope might aid in the elucidation of this complex problem. With this possibility in mind, liver and intestinal epithelium were fixed by perfusion in two different fixatives, one the Kolatchev–Nassonov modification of Champy's fluid10 and the other a mixture of equal parts of 2 per cent osmic acid, 3 per cent potassium dichromate and 2 per cent lanthanum nitrate. The pH of the former fixative is 2.0 and that of the latter is 3.4. After fixation, slices of tissue were transferred to the same fixative for varying lengths of time. Both tissues were examined during the period of fixation with oil immersion at a thousand diameters by crushing the tissues under a coverslip in water or glycerine. Neither myelin figures nor the Golgi substance could be identified during the first twenty-four hours with the osmic acid, potassium dichromate, lanthanum nitrate mixture, nor during the first forty-eight hours fixation with modified Champy's fluid. Further treatment with 2 per cent osmic acid for three days at 37° C. resulted in the appearance of the Golgi substance with its typical form and distribution throughout both tissues after fixation in modified Champy's fluid but not after fixation in the osmic, dichromate, lanthanum mixture. Secondary treatment of the tissues preserved in the latter fixative with a mixture of equal parts of 3 per cent potassium dichromate and 1 per cent chromic acid followed by treatment with 2 per cent osmic acid for four days at 37° C. resulted in the development of faint positive images of the Golgi substance, whereas secondary treatment with modified Champy's fluid for twenty-four hours followed by treatment with 2 per cent osmic acid at 37° C. for four days resulted in the development of typical, well-blackened Golgi figures in both tissues.

The Action of Diethylstilboestrol on the Prostatic Epithelium of the Mouse

1. The cellular changes in the prostatic epithelium of an inbred strain of mice (R III), following short periods of treatment with large doses of oestrogen, are described. 2. The Golgi apparatus in the cells of the prostatic epithelium affords a precise indication of the degree of stimulation induced by oestrogenic substances. 3. Specific morphological changes in the Golgi substance occur in the epithelium of the anterior lobe of the prostate after 8 days' treatment. Similar changes, following longer periods of treatment, also occur in the dorsal and ventral lobes. 4. Withdrawal of oestrogenic stimulation after 20 days' treatment with relatively large doses is followed by a return of the prostatic epithelium and the Golgi apparatus to their normal condition in 21 days.

The Golgi Material of the Neurones of the Central Nervous System of Sheep Infected with Louping-Ill

1. The Golgi material of the pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex, the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, and the multipolar cells of the medulla oblongata and ventral horns of the spinal cord of the sheep is present as filaments and as irregularly shaped bodies. In some of the cells, particularly in the lamb (Sheep V), the Golgi material has the appearance of a network. As it is frequently present as separate bodies it is suggested that it may always consist of discrete Golgi elements which are sometimes situated in close proximity or in contact with one another. Filamentous Golgi elements are present in the basal part of the cell processes. 2. An examination of neurones from the corresponding regions of the central nervous system of sheep infected experimentally with louping-ill showed that the Golgi material undergoes changes consequent upon the invasion of the cells by the virus. The Golgi material undergoes hypertrophy, and at the same time there is a reduction in the number of filamentous Golgi elements and a reduction in the amount of Golgi substance present in the cell processes. These changes are followed by fragmentation. All the neurones of a particular region are not affected equally at the same time. The Golgi material of the Purkinje cells tends to form groups in the cytoplasm prior to fragmentation. In the multipolar cells of the medulla oblongata the hypertrophy of the Golgi material is not as great as in the other regions of the central nervous system. The Golgi material of the motor nerve-cells of the ventral horns of the spinal cord undergoes considerable hypertrophy which is followed by a grouping of the Golgi elements and fragmentation.

The Development of the Egg of Limnaea Stagnalis L. From the First Cleavage Till the Troghophore Stage, With Special Reference To Its "Chemical Embryology"

The Development of the Egg of Limnaea Stagnalis L. From the First Cleavage Till the Troghophore Stage, With Special Reference To Its "Chemical Embryology"

Experiments on the Silver Nitrate Method for the Histological Demonstration of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

ABSTRACT A 10 % solution of silver nitrate in 10 % acetic acid has been widely used to show the presence of ascorbic acid in microscopical preparations (Bourne, 1936; Giroud, 1938). When there is ascorbic acid in the cells a black precipitate of metallic silver is obtained. This precipitate is often observed to be on or in the Golgi material, and it has been supposed that where this is the case the ascorbic acid is itself located in the Golgi substance (Giroud, 1938; Bourne, 1935). However, it has been pointed out that this conclusion is not necessarily correct, since the localization of the silver precipitate may be a physico-chemical phenomenon, resulting from the presence of a certain type of interface (Barnett, 1942). Experiments have therefore been carried out in vitro to investigate whether silver precipitates tend to accumulate at interfaces in conditions comparable with those in cells.

Distribution of Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) in Cells and Tissues of the Developing Chick

1. The distribution of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the cells and tissues of chick embryos, from the fourth day of incubation to 2 days after hatching, has been studied by the acid silver nitrate method. 2. Mesenchymatous cells show a reaction when undergoing histo-differentiation into cartilage, bone, muscle, dermis, vitreous humour, adrenal cortex, meninges. Differentiated cartilage cells do not contain ascorbic acid except in areas of proliferation; the cartilaginous matrix may contain it where the cartilage is about to be replaced by bone. Osteoblasts show no reaction at first, a slight reaction when they become surrounded by calcified tissue, and in some cases a strong reaction in older bone. Ascorbic acid is associated with the ‘osteogenic’ fibres immediately before calcification, and is also present in newly calcified trabeculae. 3. In blood ascorbic acid is present in erythrocytes and plasma; evidence is presented for the view that it accumulates in the older erythrocytes. Cells resembling histiocytes have been observed in muscle, containing high concentrations; no other leucocytes have been observed to show a reaction. 4. Liver shows a strong diffuse reaction in early embryos, but none at all after the tenth day. At the latter age ascorbic acid has been detected in a localized area of cytoplasm which appears to be the Golgi substance. 5. The thyroid shows no reaction at the tenth day, or after hatching, but has been seen to give a reaction at the twelfth day. 6. Various epithelia of the organs of special sense, and of the alimentary canal, contain ascorbic acid. 7. The adrenal, both cortex and medulla, first shows a reaction at the twelfth day; by the fourteenth day typical distributions appear, though the amount of ascorbic acid present continues to increase after that age. The reaction shown by the medullary cells is much stronger than that shown by the cortical elements, a reversal of the condition in the mammalian adrenal. 8. Ascorbic acid was not detected in the testis. In the ovary it appears at the fourteenth day, in a very restricted area of the cytoplasm of certain large cells in the cortex; at later ages the distribution is similar, but the impregnated area in each cell is larger. The cells concerned are believed to be the germ-cells. 9. The mesonephros contains ascorbic acid from the fifth to the sixteenth days in the tubule cells, the glomeruli, and the lumina of the tubules. In the tubule epithelia the deposit may be localized at one pole of the cell. The metanephros begins to show a reaction at the twelfth day; here, too, the tubule cells frequently have a deposit at one pole. 10. In the cells of the central nervous system ascorbic acid may be localized in a small area near the nucleus (probably the Golgi material), round the whole of the nuclear surface, or in the axon and axon hillock; or it may be diffusely distributed through the cytoplasm. A reaction is shown at the fourth day, especially in the axons of certain cells of the brain and spinal cord; later, localization in the Golgi substance becomes very general in most parts of the brain and cord. A reaction is also shown in ganglion cells, the meninges, and the choroid plexuses. The specific distributions in the principle parts of the central nervous system are described. 11. Results are discussed in the sections on each organ or tissue. In the general discussion it is pointed out that the observations described are concordant with the view that ascorbic acid is frequently localized in the Golgi material. On the other hand, the evidence is that there is no specific relation with the ‘chondriome’ in the embryonic cells of the fowl. The role of ascorbic acid in development is also briefly discussed.

Observations on the Distribution of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in Explanted Cells

ABSTRACT A Survey was recently made of the distribution of ascorbic acid in the embryonic tissues of the chick (Barnett & Bourne, 1941, 1942). Its results raised a number of. problems which can only be solved experimentally. A study was therefore under-taken of ascorbic acid in cultured tissues from chick embryos. Owing to the war this work could not be completed, but it is considered desirable to record the few observations which have been made.

THE REACTION OF THE UTERINE EPITHELIUM OF THE RAT TO OESTROGENIC STIMULATION

Although an extensive literature exists on the histological changes in the uterine mucosa under the influence of oestrogenic stimulation, no detailed investigation appears to have been made of the behaviour of the Golgi apparatus in the uterine epithelial cells following treatment with oestrogens. It is well known that the internal structure of cells undergoes variation according to their state of functional activity, and the Golgi apparatus in particular has been shown to pass through a sequence of changes in shape and in distribution within the cytoplasm in correlation with various phases of cell activity. Hyperactivity of the thyroid epithelium in exophthalmic goitre and hypertrophy of the prostatic epithelium following administration of androgens, for instance, are each accompanied by characteristic variations in the form and distribution of the Golgi substance. Experiments were undertaken to determine whether similar precise changes in the Golgi apparatus of the uterine epithelium accompanied oestrogenic stimulation and

Microchemical Studies on the Golgi Apparatus Using Protease Nile Blue Sulphate Technique II

1. The Golgi apparatus of nerve cells of spinal ganglion in the guinea pig was demonstrated by means of the present author's protease-Nile blue sulphate technique.2. The Golgi apparatus thus demonstrated accords fully to those prepared after the classical osmium-impregnation methods when employed properly. This fact proves that the Golgi apparatus of nerve cells assumes, at least in the fixed condition, the reticular feature which is familiar to us in the classical works.3. As fixatives before the digestion procedures various reagents, simple or mixed, were employed. The results obtained from these attempts are summarized in Table I in the section of material and methods. The most excellent fixatives found by this attempts proved to be the combinating techniques as follows: formalin-trypsin, osmic acid-trypsin, Champy's fluid-pepsin, Champy's fluid-trypsin, corrossive sub-limate-trypsin, potassium bichromate-pepsin, potassium bicromate-trypsin, picric acid-trypsin, and picric acid-pepsin. The percentages of the reagents and of the enzymes, and the reaction times are detailed in Table 1.4. The Nissl bodies and the mitochondria were frequently impregnated by the osmium impregnation. This phenomenon seems to be indicative of the special physiological condition of the cytoplasm in which the lipoid is unmasked from the protein.5. The mitochondria seem to be dissolved by these techniques without an exception. The Nissl bodies remain undigested by formalin-trypsin, formalin-pepsin, corrossive sublimate-trypsin technique. Their capacity of blackening by the osmic acid and their demonstrability by the pro-tease-Nile blue sulphate techniques are suggesting the existence of lipoidal substances in them. This assumption is on the other hand supported by various experimental data appeared in the literature, e.g. the experiment of axon section made by Legendre (1910) etc.6. The vital staining of the genuine Golgi apparatus has been attempted. Applying Nile blue sulphate and crysoidin upon the fresh material sectioned by means of frozen method the net-like Golgi apparatus which fully corresponds to that impregnated with osmic acid was observed stained with a considerable clearness. Here, the nerve cells in the frozen sections were surmised to be still living from the fact that their nuclei were quite free from staining and their cytoplasm showed no symptoms of death as vacuolation or granulation.7. The solubility of the Golgi substance was studied. Likewise those in other tissue cells known in the foregoing works made by the present author, the Golgi apparatus of nerve cells in the guinea pig, contains the protein digestible by trypsin and the lipoid soluble in aceton. The idea that the Golgi apparatus contains the lecithin has been denied by this study of solubility.

Studies on the structure of the golgi apparatus

It is suggested that the chromophobic or idiosomic component of vertebrate somatic cells occurs as a core in the Golgi substance. In the liver cells ofRhacophorus during activity, the core which is masked in the early stages becomes differentiated inside the substance of the apparatus in various regions. Rupture and disintegration of the apparatus takes place in those regions where chromophobic areas have been differentiated resulting in the formation of osmophil masses which have no visible chromophobic component. The demonstration of a chromophobic or idiosomic component in the vertebrate Golgi apparatus renders the comparision of secretion of various substances by the apparatus in vertebrates and invertebrates more logical.

A cytological study of the Golgi substance of striated muscle of vertebrates

AbstractThe silver chromate method used by Cajal, Fusari, and others supporters of the ‘network’ theory, fixes the contraction bands and (M) membranes in contracted muscle and the (Z) membranes and borders of the (Q) discs in relaxed fibers. The same structures are preserved by fixation in gold chloride. Kolatchev, and Bouin solutions. Muscle tissue subjected, prior to fixation, to fat extractives: ether, chloroform, etc., and subsequently fixed by these methods has an appearance similar to control preparations. The Cajal‐Fusari ‘network’ is therefore considered to result from an impregnation of the membranes and bands; the various types of ‘nets’ described by these observers being due to fixation of fibers in different stages of contraction.The true Golgi substance of striated muscle consists of osmiophilic bodies located in the sarcoplasm in proximity to the nuclei. Cone, saucer, or crescent‐shaped osmiophilic bodies occur at the poles, and granules, rods or curved rods of similar staining material along the sides of the nuclei. The disposition of these structures varies from nucleus to nucleus. Heart muscle possesses a relatively larger amount of the substance than does skeletal muscle.

The effect of fat extraction on Golgi bodies of kidney cells of the frog

AbstractFrog kidney, when fixed in 4 per cent formalin and subsequently treated with Kolatchev solutions, is found to contain osmiophilic bodies which not only appear identical to the Golgi substance of Kolatchev fixed controls but which also resist bleaching in hydrogen peroxide or potassium permanganate solutions. If a formalin fixed kidney is dehydrated and extracted with various fat solvents and subsequently fixed with the Kolatchev technique, Golgi bodies are usually completely removed but occasionally cells are found which contain spherical globules of osmiophilic substance scattered through the cytoplasm.Kidney tissue fixed in a mixture of 95 parts of alcohol plus 5 parts of formalin before application of the Kolatchev solutions does not contain Golgi bodies. The same results are obtained if benzene is used instead of alcohol and formalin. Striated muscle, when treated in a similar manner, contains darkly stained (Z) and (M) membranes, therefore the osmophilic substance present in muscle quite widely daerent, chemically and physically from that contained in kidney cells.It is apparently an established fact that formalin preserves phospholipids in tissues nnd this investigation has shown that Golgi bodies in kidney cells can be demonstrated following fixation in formalin. Moreover, the Golgi bodies, which are preserved by formalin, can be removed by extracting the tissue with fat solvents. This evidence, therefore, strengthens the hypothesis that true Golgi substance is phospholipid in nature.

An investigation of the staining reactions of erythrocytes of the leopard frog to Nile‐blue sulphate, with special reference to the nature of the segregation apparatus and the Golgi substance

An investigation of the staining reactions of erythrocytes of the leopard frog to Nile‐blue sulphate, with special reference to the nature of the segregation apparatus and the Golgi substance

Chondriome and vacuome of the differentiating erythrocyte of Necturus and their relation to the so‐called Golgi substance of erythrocytes

Chondriome and vacuome of the differentiating erythrocyte of Necturus and their relation to the so‐called Golgi substance of erythrocytes

The Physiological Significance of the Golgi Substance in the Erythrocyte of some Amphibia and Reptilia.

The Physiological Significance of the Golgi Substance in the Erythrocyte of some Amphibia and Reptilia.

A cytological study of the proximal and distal tubules of the mesonephros of Necturus maculosus. (Under normal and experimental conditions)

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine whether structural elements of the cytoplasm can be demonstrated to be specifically concerned with certain physiological processes that are experimentally induced in tissue at the time of fixation. The methods for bringing into view variations in cell structure correlated with cell activity were as follows: the increase of the process of secretion by subcutaneous injection into the living animal of phenol red and of urea; the increase of the process of reabsorption by injection of glucose: the inhibition of reabsorption of sugar by injection of phlorhizin.Variations of the same magnitude in the form, position, quantity, and interrelationships of granules, globules, chondriosomes, and Golgi substance were found to occur in normal untreated animals and in those treated experimentally. Some evidence was found that in cells of the proximal tubule a characteristic form of Golgi body appears which seems to be correlated with increased reabsorption of sugar.