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Biomedical subjects

M J Karnovsky

Publications and source records attributed to M J Karnovsky.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

Ligand-induced movement of lymphocyte membrane macromolecules. II. Mapping of surface moieties.

Anti-immunoglobulin (Ig) coupled to ferritin or hemocyanin was used to map the distribution of Ig molecules on lymphocytes derived from bone marrow (B lymphocytes) by freeze-etching. The labeled anti-Ig was distributed all over the membrane in the form of random interconnected patches forming a lacy, continuous network. This was the pattern of lymphocytes labeled at 4 degrees C with the anti-Ig. After warming at 37 degrees C, the labeled molecules concentrated into a single area of the cell (forming the cap) and were rapidly internalized in small vesicles Freeze-etching showed close packing of the labeled molecules in the cap area. There was evidence that in the cap area the Ig molecules were exfoliated from the plane of the membrane, suggesting that the Ig may be superficial to the bilipid layer, or weakly anchored to the membrane. Similar studies were made using antibodies to histocompatibility antigens. Thymocytes were labeled with anti-H-2 and ferritin anti-Ig at 4 degrees C. Freeze-etching showed large patches scattered over the membrane and separated from each other by several thousand angstroms. This distribution may, in part, explain why H-2 antigens do not readily form a cap; the large patches are beyond the reach of even a double ligand (sandwich) reaction. The antigens that reacted with heterologous anti-lymphocyte globulin (ALG) were found in small noninterconnected clusters a few hundred angstroms apart. Such clusters presumably cannot be linked by a single antibody but can by a sandwich (ligand to ligand-antigen) reaction. In previous studies it was found that ALG antigens form a cap only after a sandwich reaction. Finally, the receptors for concanavalin A (Con A) were found in a lacy, irregular interconnected, random network. The spatial distribution of these moieties on the membrane may, in great part, determine their movement after reaction with one or two ligands.

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Evidence for a blood-thymus barrier using electron-opaque tracers.

In order to verify the existence of a blood-thymus barrier to circulating macromolecules, the permeability of the vessels of the thymus was analyzed in young adult mice using electron opaque tracers of different molecular dimensions (horseradish peroxidase, cytochrome c, catalase, ferritin, colloidal lanthanum). Results show that although blood-borne macromolecules do penetrate the thymus, their parenchyma] distribution is limited to the medulla of the lobe by several factors: (a) the differential permeability of the various segments of the vascular tree; (b) the spatial segregation of these segments within the lobe; (c) the strategic location of parenchymal macrophages along the vessels. The cortex is exclusively supplied by capillaries, which have impermeable endothelial junctions. Although a small amount of tracer is transported by plasmalemmal vesicles through the capillary endothelium, this tracer is promptly sequestrated by macrophages stretched out in a continuous row along the cortical capillaries and it does not reach the intercellular clefts between cortical lymphocytes and reticular cells. The medulla contains all the leaky vessels, namely postcapillary venules and arterioles. Across the walls of the venules, large quantities of all injected tracers escape through the clefts between migrating lymphocytes and endothelial cells; also the arterioles have a small number of endothelial junctions which are permeable to peroxidase, but do not allow passage of tracers of higher molecular weight. The tracers released by the leaky vessels penetrate the intercellular clefts of the medulla, but they never reach the cortical parenchyma, even at long time intervals after the injection. Therefore, a blood-thymus barrier to circulating macromolecules does exist, but is limited to the cortex. Medullary lymphocytes are freely exposed to blood-borne substances.

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An ultrastructural study of lymphocytes with surface-bound immunoglobulin.

This report is on a radioautographic study of lymphocytes exposed to (125)I-labeled anti-Ig in an attempt to identify surface-bound Ig molecules. The results as studied by ultrastructural radioautography confirmed the presence of surface-bound Ig on a certain population of lymphocytes. The specificity of the anti-Ig was determined by using appropriate controls that included the use of an absorbed anti-Ig and anti-hemocyanin antibody. The labeling pattern resulting from the interaction of labeled anti-Ig and Ig was found to be specifically associated with the cell surface and random in its distribution. Morphological differences were not apparent between labeled and nonlabeled lymphocytes in the spleen and lymph nodes. In the thymus, most lymphocytes did not exhibit detectable Ig. The few thymic lymphocytes that were labeled had unique morphological characteristics that included fewer ribosomes, many of which were monoribosomes. Relative to the amount in their cytoplasmic organelles, plasma cells had surface Ig but to a lesser degree than lymphocytes. Finally, macrophages were nonspecifically labeled and contained antibody on their membranes as well as intracellularly.

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Cytochemical localization of peroxidase activity in the developing erythrocyte.

Peroxidase activity, demonstrated with diaminobenzidine as the electron donor according to the method of Graham and Karnovsky, was used as a cytochemical marker in a study of developing erythrocytes in guinea pig and rabbit bone marrow. Peroxidase activity was deposited diffusely in the cytoplasm and nuclear matrix of developing cells and was thought to represent hemoglobin, which others have shown by independent criteria to have a similar distribution. Diffuse localization was first observed in erythroblasts and at all subsequent stages of development. Another finding was the significant particulate localization of peroxidase activity apparently associated with cytoplasmic ribosomes and nuclear particles of immature erythrocytes. This activity differentiated the most primitive erythroid precursors from hemocytoblasts of other marrow cell lines, a distinction impossible by strictly morphologic criteria. Particulate peroxidase localization was identified in erythroid hemocytoblasts, erythroblasts, normoblasts and reticulocytes but not in mature erythrocytes. The nature of the particle-associated peroxidase activity was not determined with certainty. However, it could not be differentiated from the diffuse activity, thought to reflect hemoglobin, by several inhibitors and could not be attributed to erythrocyte catalase. The possibility is therefore raised that this activity represents hemoglobin, newly assembled either on or immediately adjacent to nuclear particles and cytoplasmic ribosomes.

Aniline Compounds↗

Appearance and function of endogenous peroxidase in fetal rat thyroid.

Iodination within the thyroid follicle is intimately associated with a thyroid peroxidase. In order to locate the in vivo site of iodination, the initial cytochemical appearance of this enzyme has been determined in fetal rat thyroid and its presence correlated with the onset of iodinated thyroglobulin synthesis. Peroxidase first appears in follicular cells during the 18th day of gestation. It is seen first in the perinuclear cisternae, the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, and within the inner few Golgi lamellae. These organelles presumably represent sites of peroxidase synthesis. During the 19th and 20th days of gestation, there is a tremendous increase in peroxidase activity. In addition to the stained sites described, there are now many peroxidase-positive apical vesicles in the follicular cells. Newly forming follicles stain most conspicuously for peroxidase, the reaction product being heavily concentrated at the external surfaces of apical microvilli and in the adjacent colloid. Iodinated thyroglobulin becomes biochemically detectable in thyroids during the 19th day of gestation and increases greatly during the 20th day. The parallel rise in peroxidase staining that just precedes, and overlaps, the rise in iodinated thyroglobulin, suggests that apical vesicles and the apical cell membrane are the major sites of iodination within the thyroid follicle.

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An ultrastructural study of glomerular permeability using catalase and peroxidase as tracer proteins.

Mice were injected intravenously with beef liver catalase (mol wt 240,000) and very small doses of horseradish peroxidase (mol wt 40,000) and the site of localization of these enzymes in the kidney was studied by ultrastructural cytochemistry. 1 min after injection, catalase was present in glomerular capillary lumina and there was minimal permeation of the basement membrane. After 5-180 min, staining of the basement membrane increased progressively but was usually less than that in capillary lumina. At all time intervals the inner (sub-endothelial) layer of the basement membrane contained more reaction product than the lamina densa and the outer (subepithelial) layer. Catalase permeated the entire thickness of the basement membrane and extended up to the slit pore but not beyond the level of the slit diaphragm and was not seen in the urinary space or tubular lumina. Horseradish peroxidase permeated the whole thickness of the basement membrane within 2 min after injection; however, gradients of staining from the inner to outer layers of the basement membrane were frequently seen. The findings with both enzymes indicate that (a) the basement membrane restricts the passage of proteins over a wide range of molecular size with increasing impediment for larger molecules and (b) the slit pore functions as an additional barrier for molecules that cross the basement membrane.

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An ultrastructural study of glomerular permeability in aminonucleoside nephrosis using catalase as a tracer protein.

Beef liver catalase (mol wt 240,000) was injected intravenously into normal rats and rats made nephrotic with aminonucleoside of puromycin. The localization of the tracer in the kidneys was then studied by ultrastructural cytochemistry, 3 min-12 hr after injection. Passage of catalase into the urinary space in normal rats was restricted by the basement membrane and by the epithelial slit pore. Nephrotic glomeruli showed extensive fusion of foot processes and formation of pockets and vacuoles in the fused epithelium; within 3 min after injection, catalase appeared in basal pockets, epithelial vacuoles, and the urinary space. Residual slit pores and close junctions in fused epithelium were impermeable to catalase. These studies indicate that alteration of the epithelial cells and basement membrane is responsible for protein leakage in aminonucleoside nephrosis.

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Cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity. II. A light and electron microscopic description.

Delayed onset erythematous skin reactions elicited in guinea pigs early in the course of sensitization with azobenzenearsonate-protein conjugates or with protein antigens in incomplete Freund's adjuvant or in saline were found to have a characteristic morphology which sets them apart from delayed hypersensitivity and the classic antibody mediated reactions. The principle feature was massive dermal infiltration with basophilic leukocytes. Mononuclear cells of several types including activated and small lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, and blast cells were also present. Such reactions have in the past been designated Jones-Mote hypersensitivity, but we prefer the descriptive term cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) for the reasons given. Occasional basophils extruded their granules, and individual granules, retaining their characteristic ultrastructure, were commonly seen in the interstitium. However, intercellular junctions between endothelial cells were closed except during cell emigration and there was no morphologic evidence of an histamine-like effect. The majority of basophils, moreover, did not degranulate but underwent nuclear pyknosis and cytoplasmic degeneration and were phagocytosed by macrophages. Phagocytosed basophil granules retained their ultrastructure. Skin tests performed at late intervals after sensitization had a different time course and morphology. Animals sensitized with protein antigens in complete Freund's adjuvant developed delayed hypersensitivity; however, reactions elicited in such animals at early (but not late) intervals after sensitization contained a prominent basophil component. We interpret such reactions to be a mixture of delayed hypersensitivity and cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity. The function of the basophil in CBH and its relation to the mononuclear cells which accompany it are unknown, and various possibilities are discussed. We conclude that cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity is a distinct immunologic and morphologic entity, occurring early in the course of sensitization with protein antigens incorporated in any of several vehicles. The mechanism of the reaction is presently unknown, and a general hypothesis to explain its pathogenesis has been proposed.

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