Summary
Mucosal mast cells of the gastrointestinal tract constitute a separate cell line within the mast cell system of the rat, differing in several respects from the classical connective tissue mast cells and, unlike the latter, requiring special fixation techniques for their demonstration.
We have examined some histochemical properties of mucosal mast cells of the duodenum and compared them with connective tissue mast cells of the tongue or skin. The results indicate that the structural integrity of the granules of both types of mast cell is partly dependent on ionic linkages between glycosaminoglycan and protein. The so far unidentified glycosaminoglycan of mucosal mast cells appears to be more soluble than the heparin of connective tissue mast cells. The strongly fluorescent binding of Berberine to the granules of connective tissue mast cells and, depending on their content, of heparin is absent from mucosal mast cells, confirming previous findings which suggested that they contain a glycosaminoglycan with a lower degree of sulphation. Aldehyde fixation by routine procedures reversibly blocks the cationic dye binding of mucosal mast cell granules. The dye binding groups may be unmasked by trypsination or by long staining times of the order of several days. The results suggest that the blocking of staining by aldehydes is caused by a diffusion barrier of a protein nature. Mucosal and connective tissue mast cells thus differ with respect to the spatial arrangement of glycosaminoglycan and protein in their granules. As a result of the study a modified method for the demonstration of mucosal mast cells in tissue sections is described, based on normal formaldehyde fixation and staining in Toluidine Blue for a long time. It has some advantages over previous methods and preserves the structure of mucosal and connective tissue mast cells equally well.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dvorak, A. M. (1978) Biology and morphology of basophilic leucocytes. InImmediate Hypersensitivity (edited byBach, M. K.), pp. 369–405. New York: Marcel Dekker.
Enerbäck, L. (1966a) Mast cells in rat gastrointestinal mucosa. I. Effect of fixationActa path. microbiol. scand. 66, 289–302.
Enerbäck, L. (1966b) Mast cells in rat gastrointestinal mucosa. II. Dye binding and metachromatic properties.Acta path. microbiol. scand. 66, 303–12.
Enerbäck, L. (1974) Berberine sulphate binding to mast cell polyanions: a cytofluorometric method for the quantitation of heparin.Histochemistry 42, 301–13.
Enerbäck, L. (1981) The gut mucosal mast cell.Monogr. Allergy 17, 222–32.
Gustafsson, B. &Enerbäck, L. (1978) Cytofluorometric quantitation of 5-hydroxytryptamine and heparin in individual mast cell granules.J. Histochem. Cytochem.,26, 47–54.
Lagunoff, D. (1966) Structural aspects of histamine binding: the mast cell granule. InMechanisms of Release of Biogenic Amines (edited byVon Euler, U. S., Rosell, S. andUvnäs, B.), pp. 79–94. Oxford, Pergamon Press.
Lagunoff, D., Phillips, M. T., Iseri, O. A. &Benditt, E. P. (1964) Isolation and preliminary characterization of rat mast cell granules.Lab. Invest. 13, 1331–44.
Lillie, R. D. (1977)H. J. Conn's Biological Stains, 9th edn. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Miller, H. R. P. (1980) The structure, origin and function of mucosal mast cells. A brief review.Biol. Cell 39, 229–32.
Pearse, A. G. E. (1968)Histochemistry, 3rd edn, pp. 70–76. Edinburgh, London: Churchill Livingstone.
Robinsson, H. C., Horner, A. A., Höök, M., Ogren, S. &Lindahl, U. (1978) A proteoglycan form of heparin and its degradation to single chain molecules.J. biol. Chem. 253, 6687–93.
Spicer, S. S. (1963) Histochemical properties of mucopolysaccharide and basic protein in mast cells.Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 103, 322–33.
Spicer, S. S. (1965) Diamine methods for differentiating mucosubstances histochemically.J. Histochem. Cytochem. 13, 211–34.
Tas, J. &Berndsen, R. G. (1977) Does heparin occur in mucosal mast cells of the rat small intestine?J. Histochem. Cytochem. 25, 1058–62.
Yurt, R. W., Leid, R. R., Jr, Austen, K. F. &Silbert, J. E. (1977) Native heparin from rat peritoneal mast cells.J. biol. Chem. 252, 518–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wingren, U., Enerbäck, L. Mucosal mast cells of the rat intestine: a re-evaluation of fixation and staining properties, with special reference to protein blocking and solubility of the granular glycosaminoglycan. Histochem J 15, 571–582 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01954148
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01954148