Abstract
The significance of increased basophilia in various tissues after treatment with oxidizing agents which are widely used in histochemical studies, was investigated.
Potassium permanganate treatment resulted in a marked increase in basophilia in gastric chief cells, gastric mucin, intestinal goblet cell mucin, thyroidal colloid, elastic fibers, pancreatic acinar cells and B cells, Purkinje cells, hypophyseal neurosecretory substances, and pilary cortex. Performic and peracetic acid treatment exerted a similar effect on neurosecretory substances, pancreatic B cells and pilary cortex, while periodic acid treatment did so only on pilary cortex. Potassium permanganate treatment resulted in increased basophilia on synthetic polypeptides of cysteine, tyrosine and tryptophan, while treatment with performic or peracetic acid exerted a similar effect on synthetic polypeptides of cysteine and tryptophan.
The present model tissue experiments and the reaction of chemical end groups of amino acids following oxidation suggest that the permanganate-induced basophilia of tissue proteins may be attributable to cysteine, cystine, tyrosine, or tryptophan; the performic and peracetic acid-induced basophilia to cysteine, cystine or tryptophan; and the periodic acid-induced basophilia to cysteine or cystine.
