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Science 3 March 1972:
Vol. 175. no. 4025, pp. 991 - 993
DOI: 10.1126/science.175.4025.991
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Articles

Osmiophilic Polymer Generation: Catalysis by Transition Metal Compounds in Ultrastructural Cytochemistry

Jacob S. Hanker 1, Winston A. Anderson 2, and Floyd E. Bloom 3

1 Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27514
2 Department of Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
3 Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, Division of Special Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D.C. 20032

A transition metal compound that is bound in tissues by any appropriate cytochemical reaction may catalyze the generation of an insoluble osmiophilic polymer from organic monomers such as 3,3'-diaminobenzidine. When the polymers are treated with osmium tetroxide, electron-opaque, insoluble osmium blacks (coordination polymers of osmium) are formed at the sites of the particular macromolecule or enzyme permitting its light, and electron, microscopic localization. This approach represents a distinct advantage over earlier cytochemical methods because the shorter incubation time needed here results in less artifactual deposition of metal ions, and less tendency to crystallize the reaction product. In addition, the shorter incubation times permit longer fixation of tissues and hence less artifact due to enzyme diffusion.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Neuron Geometry and Circuitry via the Electron Microscope: Intracellular Staining with Osmiophilic Polymer.
R. Gillette and B. Pomeranz (1973)
Science 182, 1256-1258
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