Abstract
Microwave irradiation (MWI) was evaluated as a means of fixation for the detection of enzymatic activities such as alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphatase in the liver and the kidney.
MWI enabled the detection of intracellular alkaline phosphatase enzymatic activities in perinuclear cisternae and rough endoplasmic reticulum cisternae of the hepatocytes; this had not been possible with the conventionally fixed cells. With MWI, acid phosphatase tended to be diffusible from lysosomes. This suggested that microwave energy had some effect on the membrane.
We tested MWI fixation also for autoradiographic studies using 3H-thymidine and 125I-peptide. Excellent ultrastructural preservation and clear detection of radiolabelled compounds showed the MWI technique to be excellent and reliable for autoradiographic studies.
