Combination of acid phosphatase positivity and rimmed vacuoles as useful markers in the diagnosis of adult-onset Pompe disease lacking specific clinical and pathological features.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical and histological presentations of the adult form of Pompe disease may be atypical. In such cases, identifying histological signs that point to the diagnosis would be crucial to avoid a delay in care. The aim of our study was to investigate the presence of rimmed vacuoles and acid phosphatase positivity in muscle biopsies of patients with late-onset Pompe disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied muscle biopsies of all cases of the adult form of Pompe disease diagnosed at the University Hospital of Caen. Three of these four cases showed atypical clinical signs, and diagnosis was established tardily based on family history or systematic analysis of acid maltase activity. RESULTS: All biopsies showed some rimmed vacuoles. The acid phosphatase reaction showed positive inclusions and labelled vacuoles in biopsies of all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of rimmed vacuoles and acid phosphatase positivity in muscle biopsy should suggest the diagnosis of the adult form of Pompe disease, this is decisive since effective therapy is available.

Evaluation of the chemical model of vestibular lesions induced by arsanilate in rats.

Several animal models of vestibular deficits that mimic the human pathology phenotype have previously been developed to correlate the degree of vestibular injury to cognate vestibular deficits in a time-dependent manner. Sodium arsanilate is one of the most commonly used substances for chemical vestibular lesioning, but it is not well described in the literature. In the present study, we used histological and functional approaches to conduct a detailed exploration of the model of vestibular lesions induced by transtympanic injection of sodium arsanilate in rats. The arsanilate-induced damage was restricted to the vestibular sensory organs without affecting the external ear, the oropharynx, or Scarpa's ganglion. This finding strongly supports the absence of diffusion of arsanilate into the external ear or Eustachian tubes, or through the eighth cranial nerve sheath leading to the brainstem. One of the striking observations of the present study is the complete restructuring of the sensory epithelia into a non sensory epithelial monolayer observed at 3months after arsanilate application. This atrophy resembles the monolayer epithelia observed postmortem in the vestibular epithelia of patients with a history of lesioned vestibular deficits such as labyrinthectomy, antibiotic treatment, vestibular neuritis, or Ménière's disease. In cases of Ménière's disease, aminoglycosides, and platinum-based chemotherapy, vestibular hair cells are destroyed, regardless of the physiopathological process, as reproduced with the arsanilate model of vestibular lesion. These observations, together with those presented in this study of arsanilate vestibular toxicity, suggest that this atrophy process relies on a common mechanism of degeneration of the sensory epithelia.

Internalization and recycling of delta-opioid receptor are dependent on a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation mechanism.

Internalization, recycling, and resensitization of the human delta-opioid receptor (hDOR) were studied in the neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-BE, endogenously expressing this receptor. Conventional and confocal fluorescence microscopy observations, corroborated by Scatchard analysis, indicated that after a 100 nM Eto treatment, 60 to 70% of hDOR were rapidly internalized (t(1/2) < 15 min). This agonist-triggered internalization was reversible for a treatment not exceeding 1 h and became irreversible for prolonged treatment (4 h), leading probably to the degradation and/or down-regulation of the receptor. The rapid internalization of hDOR was totally blocked in the presence of heparin, known as an inhibitor of G protein-coupled receptor kinases (Benovic et al., 1989), a result indicating that phosphorylation by these kinases is a critical step in desensitization (Hasbi et al, 1998) and internalization of hDOR (present study) in SK-N-BE cell line. Blockade of internalization by agents not interferring with phosphorylation, as hypertonic sucrose or concanavalin A, also blocked the resensitization (receptor functional recovering) process. Furthermore, blockade of dephosphorylation of the internalized hDOR by okadaic acid totally suppressed its recycling to the plasma membrane and its subsequent resensitization. These results indicate that regulatory events leading to desensitization, internalization, and recycling in a functional state of hDOR involve phosphorylation by a G protein-coupled receptor kinase, internalization via clathrin-coated vesicles, and dephosphorylation by acid phosphatases.

Uneven distribution and size of rabbit lens capsule proteoglycans.

To document the ultrastructural distribution of lens capsule proteoglycans, rabbit lens capsules were fixed and stained overnight in 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 5.6, containing 2.5% glutaraldehyde, 0.2% Cuprolinic Blue and 0.2 M MgCl2. They were rinsed, stained with 1% aqueous sodium tungstate, embedded in Epon, sectioned (60 nm), and examined with an electron microscope at 60 kV. Proteoglycan-Cuprolinic Blue complexes mainly appeared as networks of small electron-dense filaments throughout the posterior and anterior capsules. The posterior capsule was a single layer with a network of small proteoglycan filaments gradually decreasing in size from the humoral side (90 x 10 nm) to the lenticular side (30 x 8 nm). The humoral side of the anterior capsule had a thin lamina (400 nm) containing large (180 x 40 nm), very electron-dense proteoglycan-Cuprolinic Blue complexes plus small proteoglycans. Below this lamina, the complexes were only seen as filaments slightly smaller than those in the corresponding area of the posterior capsule. Cuprolinic Blue binding of the anterior and posterior lens capsules revealed differences in the size and distribution of their sulphated proteoglycans which do not correspond to the patterns of their immunoreactivity with anti-heparan sulphate proteoglycan. The humoral lamina in the anterior capsules, with large proteoglycan structures, might be a distinct structural and functional compartment.

Ultrastructure of Kurloff body proteoglycans after high pressure freezing, cryosubstitution and postembedding staining with cuprolinic blue.

Very high pressure freezing and cryosubstitution of Kurloff cells preserves the ultrastructural morphology of Kurloff bodies, particularly the myelin figures, as shown by embedding in epoxy resin and conventional postembedding staining. It also preserves the Kurloff body proteoglycans as more expanded spindle-like shapes than does fixation with formaldehyde at atmospheric pressure. But, proteoglycans were not discernible in the Kurloff body matrix on either unstained or conventionally stained thin sections. The Kurloff body skeleton of proteoglycans in their native expanded shape was stained with the electron-dense cationic ministain cuprolinic blue, using thin sections embedded in LR white. The mean equatorial diameter of the spindles was 20-30 nm, while the collapsed filaments produced by aldehyde fixation were about 10-15 nm wide. The spindles were often about 200-300 nm long but could be much longer, depending on the plane of the section. Thus, high pressure freezing, freeze substitution, embedding in LR white, and staining with cationic dyes such as phthalocyanins seems to be a convenient way of visualizing intracellular proteoglycans that are well preserved and in very much like their native expanded state.

Purification and characterization of Kurloff cell sialoglycoproteins with acid phosphatase activity.

The major alpha 2-6 sialoglycoproteins in detergent-extracts of Kurloff cells were purified by anion-exchange and Sambucus nigra agglutinin-affinity chromatographies. The similar ultrastructural localisations of (1) S. nigra agglutinin-gold conjugates and (2) acid phosphatase activities on the Kurloff body and particularly on its myelin figures indicated that the major alpha 2-6 sialoglycoproteins of the Kurloff cell had acid phosphatase activity. Two-dimensional electrophoresis showed that these tartrate-sensitive phosphatases corresponded to 2 acidic (pI 3.4-3.7) polypeptides of 36 and 34 kDa. Hydrolysis with peptide-N-glycosidases F gave a 33 kDa apoprotein rich in alanine, glutamic acid, tyrosine and lysin. A lectin-affinity study demonstrated that they contained hybrid type bisected and fucosylated N-linked oligosaccharides. Cytotoxic properties were previously attributed to Kurloff cells and other studies suggested that not only acid phosphatases but also alpha 2-6-linked sialic acid residues themselves may participate in natural killer activity.

Ultrastructure of proteoglycans in the specific granules of guinea-pig basophilic leukocytes as demonstrated by cuprolinic blue staining.

The ultrastructure of sulphate proteoglycans in basophil granules was examined using cytochemical procedures designed to stabilize and visualize these highly anionic macromolecules in situ. Unfixed or glutaraldehyde-prefixed guinea-pig spleen cells were submitted to fixation/staining in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, 0.2% cuprolinic blue (CB; a cationic phthalocyanin dye) and 0.2 or 0.3 M MgCl2 with or without glycosidase treatments. Abundant electron-dense precipitates were present throughout the granule matrix. The stained structures were often arranged in a quasi-crystalline typical banded pattern. Negative control basophils had no electrondense precipitates. Digestion with chondroitinase ABC destroyed the CB-positive electron-dense banded or filamentous patterns while sialidase treatment did not, but led to larger CB-positive filaments in the cytoplasm near the granules. Taking into account their high anionicity, as shown by the stability of dye binding in the presence of 0.3 M MgCl2, and their susceptibility to chondroitinase ABC, the CB-precipitates are assumed to be related to the sulphated proteoglycans previously characterized in basophil granules. The CB-positive crystalline or filamentous network of the granule matrix is also assumed to reflect the in situ location and organization of these intracellular proteoglycans and may be involved in maintaining the shape of the granule.

Relationship between the acid phosphatases of the Kurloff body and the major 30-35 kDa glycoproteins of the Kurloff cell.

This study deals with the acid phosphatase (AcPase) of the Kurloff body (KB), a large (10 microns diameter) periodic acid-Schiff-positive lysosomal inclusion body present in Kurloff cells (KC). KC AcPase were extracted, with similar yields, either with non-ionic detergent solution or after Dounce homogenization in low ionic strength buffer suggesting that they mainly correspond to hydrosoluble AcPase. After DEAE-cellulose chromatography of such crude Dounce-extracts, 97% of KC AcPase activity was recovered in the unbound glycoprotein fraction (peak I)1). The main protein content consisted of, as testified by SDS-PAGE analysis, major KC glycoproteins of 30-35 kDa. Thus, KC AcPase, and particularly sialoAcPase, may be assumed to correspond to these N-glycosylproteins among which the presence of alpha (2,6) sialoglycoproteins was previously established. Following electrophoresis on a 4-15% gradient native polyacrylamide gel or isoelectric focusing, the two size populations (200 kDa and 500 kDa) and up to 20 isoforms of KC AcPase were respectively detected by zymography in peak I. After Clostridium-derived sialidase digestion of peak I, the highly active bands observed at pH 3.5-5.2 disappeared. These zymographic patterns were similar to those obtained with crude extracts. After Concanavalin A (ConA)-Sepharose chromatography of peak I, the single ConA-bound glucosamine-labelled peak, eluted at 200 methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranose, contained the AcPase activity while the ConA-unbound peak was devoid of any acid phosphatase activity. After SDS-PAGE analysis, the ConA-bound fraction appeared to correspond only to a single broad protein band in the 30-35 kDa zone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Adenocarcinoma of Brunner's glands: an entity exceptionally described. Report of a case]. / Les adénocarcinomes brünnériens : une entité exceptionnellement décrite. A propos de deux cas.

The authors report two cases of adenocarcinoma arising from Brünner's glands. The diagnosis was made on histological, histochemical and lectin-histochemical grounds. Brünner's glands carcinoma cells were alike and located very close to normal Brünner's glands. Brünner's glands carcinoma cells contained neutral glycoproteins and were positive for Concanavalin A.

The proteoglycan skeleton of the Kurloff body as evidenced by cuprolinic blue staining.

This study deals with the ultrastructure of the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans of the Kurloff body, a large lysosome organelle, metachromatic towards Toluidine Blue, of a blood cell unique to the guinea pig and called the Kurloff cell. Splenic Kurloff cell from oestrogen-treated guinea pig cells were examined after staining with Cuprolinic Blue, a cationic phthalocyanine-like dye, in the presence of MgCl2 in a critical electrolyte concentration method. Better results were obtained when the fixation-staining by the glutaraldehyde Cuprinolinic Blue MgCl2 mixture was preceded by a glutaraldehyde pre-fixation. On light microscopy, Kurloff bodies generally exhibited an overall pink and glassy metachromasia, sometimes with additional darker metachromatic small dots at their peripheries. At the ultrastructural level, the metachromatic central matrix of the Kurloff body usually exhibited, as a major feature, a typical network pattern of ribbon-like or stellate electron-dense precipitates suggesting the presence of a skeleton of Cuprolinic Blue-reactive filamentous structures. Taking into account their high anionicity (as shown by the stability of the dye binding in the presence of 0.3 M MgCl2) and their susceptibility to chondroitinase ABC, these anionic structures were assumed to be related to the proteochondroitin-4-sulphate previously characterized as the only major sulphated glycoconjugate of the Kurloff cell.

Kurloff cell lysosomal arylsulphatases: presence of both cationic and highly anionic isoforms of the sole B class.

Following the previous ultrastructural demonstration of the presence of arylsulphatase (Asase) activities in Kurloff cells (KC) and of their quasi-exclusive localization in the Kurloff body (KB), this work investigates their biochemical and zymographic properties after extraction from purified KC suspensions. Using the discriminative inhibitory conditions of both the Baum or Lee-Vaupel and Conzelmann methods, nitrocatechol sulphate hydrolyzing enzymes of the KC were assumed to belong to the B class of the type II Asase alone. After electrophoretic separation under non-denaturing conditions in a 4-23% polyacrylamide gel, they were characterized by 55 kDa and 62 kDa zymographic bands. After isoelectric focusing, 'classical' cationic isoforms (pI 8.5) and two anionic isoforms (pI 4.4 and 4.6) were observed on zymograms. As expected for class B Asase, the different zymographic forms of KC Asase were only recovered in the unadsorbed fraction after anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose column equilibrated with high ionic strength buffer. Their Km (2.1 mM), their optimum pH (5.8) and their inhibitions by sulfite, phosphate, sulphate and ascorbic acid as well as their slight stimulation by AgNO3 were also characteristic of this class of Asase. Finally, chondroitin-4-sulphate was shown to potentially be a physiological substrate for these lysosomal enzymes.

Glycoconjugates with Neu5Ac(alpha 2,6)Gal(beta 1,4)GlcNAc sequences: a selective lectin-histochemical property of Kurloff cells in guinea pig thymus.

The Kurloff cell (KC), a natural killer lymphocyte, contains a large (10-microns diameter) periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive lysosome-like inclusion body called the Kurloff body (KB), which exhibits strong acid phosphatase activity. The presence of Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA)-reactive Neu5Ac(alpha 2,6)-D-Gal/Gal-NAc(beta 1,4)GlcNAc oligosaccharide sequences and the absence of the corresponding Neu5Ac(alpha 2,3) Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA)-reactive sequence in the major 35-kDa N-glycosylproteins of the complex or hybrid type extracted from purified KC were established by Western-lectin-blotting of cytosolic extracts from purified KC. Moreover, these SNA-reactive sequences, or at least part of them, were shown to be borne by sialidase-sensitive KC acid isophosphatases. Thymic sections rich in KC, from estrogenized guinea pigs were examined by affino-histochemistry with these sialic acid-reactive lectins. The SNA-reactivity of thymic sections was quasi-exclusively confined to KC clusters, whereas the whole thymic section was negative for MAA. KC were not SNA-reactive following preincubation and incubation with 200 mM lactose. When submitted to enzymatic or mild chemical desialylation processes, the SNA-reactivity of the KC clusters was enhanced. The SNA-reactivity of KC clusters was completely abolished following prolonged chemical desialylation, whereas the PAS-positivity of KB remained unchanged. Even after a prolonged sialidase treatment, this SNA-reactivity was only reduced. Moreover, after both these desialylation processes, KC developed a heavier Ricinus communis agglutinin-reactivity, thus confirming the presence of penultimate Gal residues in their abundant SNA-reactive oligosaccharide sequences Neu5Ac(alpha 2,6)Gal(beta 1,4)GlcNAc. Such a selective lectin histochemical property provides a marker for detecting KC.

Characterization of the non-sulphated highly anionic Kurloff cell glycoconjugates by lectin- and immunoblotting: evidence for the presence of alpha (2,8)-linked polysialic acid-bearing molecules.

Urea or guanidine hydrochloride-soluble extracts from highly purified Kurloff cells (KC) radiolabelled in vitro were subjected to DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Among the three anionic peaks obtained, a major and non-sulphated peak (designated as peak IV) strongly affected by glucosamine-labelling and eluted at about 0.3 M NaCl was analyzed. Gel filtration on Sepharose CL4B and 10% SDS-PAGE indicated its heterogeneous size. Peak IV consisted mainly of N-glycans as shown by its susceptibility to tunicamycin. Further insight into its chemical nature was obtained by examining its binding capacity to different lectins and by immunodot analysis. It strongly interacted with concanavalin A (Con A) after dot-blot or Western blotting. A large amount of these glycoproteins is not of the high-mannose type since Galanthus nivalis agglutinin reacted weakly with peak IV. Moreover, bindings to Phaseolus vulgaris and to wheat germ agglutinins suggest the presence of bisecting N-acetylglucosamine residues. Bindings to Sambucus nigra and to Ricinus communis agglutinins, dramatically lessened and increased respectively after desialylation, suggest the presence of Neu5Ac alpha 2,6Gal/GalNAc sequences. The absence of outer sialic acid residues linked alpha 2,3 to galactose was demonstrated following Maackia amurensis agglutinin negativity. The use of poly(alpha 2,8-sialyl) endo-N-acylneuraminidase combined with immunodot procedure with a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes alpha 2,8-linked polysialic chains revealed that peak IV contains oligosaccharidic epitopes common to polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecules.

Kurloff cell ultrastructure after combined formaldehyde-cetylpyridinium chloride fixation and high-iron diamine staining.

This study deals with the ultrastructure of the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans of the Kurloff body, a large lysosomal organelle that stains metachromatically with Toluidine Blue and which is present in Kurloff cells (a blood cell unique to the guinea pig). Splenic tissues were fixed with 1% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) added to 4% paraformaldehyde and examined either after Spicer's high-iron diamine staining for sulphated anionic sites followed by post-fixation with ferrocyanide-osmium tetroxide or after a simple post-fixation with ferrocyanide-osmium tetroxide. CPC-precipitated sulphated sites were preferentially located at the periphery of the Kurloff body but, unexpectedly, were absent in the central matrix. Although their electron opacity was lower, these anionic sites were readily observable in the absence of HID-staining after sole post-fixation by ferrocyanide-reduced osmium. CPC-precipitated sulphated anionic sites were either associated with the myelin figures or constituted unexpected structures. They contained (i) tightly-stacked lamellae, with a very regular 4 nm periodicity, and (ii) groups of 2, 3, 4 short dense lines with a 3-5 nm periodicity. By taking into account the susceptibility of these HID-reactive structures towards chondroitinase ABC, these different sulphated components were assumed to be related to the proteochondroitin-4-sulphate previously characterized as the only major sulphated glycoconjugate of the Kurloff cell. Their colocalization with phospholipidic structures was suggested following observation of sections treated by a chloroform-methanol mixture.

The major Kurloff cell glycoproteins: lectin affinities, glycosidase susceptibilities and relationship with the sialylated acid phosphatases of the Kurloff body.

Urea-soluble fractions from purified Kurloff cells (KC) were analysed by affinoblotting. Lectin reactivities were quasi-exclusively confined to the 30-35 kDa major glycoproteins (mGPs) (responsible for the PAS positivity of the Kurloff body) with strong affinities for Canavalia ensiformis lectin, Phaseolus vulgaris erythroagglutinin and Sambucus nigra (SNA), Pisum sativum, Triticum vulgaris and Ulex europeus agglutinins. These data were consistent with the presence, among the KC mGPs, of large amounts of complex or hybrid N-glycosylproteins, in particular with Neu5Ac alpha 2,6Gal/GalNAc sequences, fucosyl residues and bisected residues. Their oligosaccharide sequences belong to more than one class, since some of these lectin reactivities had to be borne by distinct N-linked oligosaccharide chains. Before further analysis, KC mGPs were separated from other highly anionic glycoconjugates, by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Their abundant potential RCA-binding sites masked by sialic acid were then revealed after neuraminidase (sialidase) or dilute acid pre-treatment. In remaining consistent with their lectin affinities, some KC mGPs were found to be PNGase F sensitive, while, either desialylated or not, they were all O-glycanase insensitive. Finally, by combined zymography and affinoblotting, the SNA-reactive fraction of KC mGPs was shown to correspond to denatured forms of the two zymographic size populations (190 kDa and 500 kDa) of KC acid phosphatases.

Collagen-associated sulphated proteoglycans. Ultrastructure after formaldehyde-cetylpyridinium chloride fixation.

In the course of an ultrastructural cytochemical study of intracellular sulphated proteoglycans involving the addition of cetylpyridinium chloride in the primary aldehyde fixative, a remarkable ultrastructural preservation of the collagen-associated sulphated proteoglycans was observed. Together with the preservation of their localization among the collagen fibrils (with, for some of them, a 50 nm periodic association with d-bands) and of their native elongated shape, previously observed under similar technical conditions, these stick-shaped and chondroitinase ABC-sensitive proteoglycans exhibited a typical pattern with several dense longitudinal parallel tracks (periodicity: 3-4 nm) not described as yet. Readily observable without high iron diamine-staining, the morphology of these cetylpyridinium chloride-precipitated and collagen-associated polyanions was particularly enhanced after incubation in the diamine solution which ascertained their sulphate content. Such a common ultrastructural organization with parallel tracks for both intracellular (i.e., in eosinophilic polymorphonuclear cells and Kurloff cells) and extracellular CPC-precipitated sulphated proteoglycans could correspond to intrinsic properties of the complexed molecules and could be related to 'double track' proteoglycans observed under other technical conditions in basement membranes.

Kurloff cell proteoglycans: presence of two main size-populations of intracellular protease-resistant proteochondroitin sulphate. Effect of D-xyloside.

This paper reports that the Kurloff cell sulphated and chondroitinase AC sensitive material previously described filtered on Sepharose CL4B columns as 2 main populations with Kav of 0.25 and 0.44. Its alkaline treatment resulted in the elution of 2 peaks with Kav of 0.52 and 0.78. Their reduction in size observed after alkaline treatment and the 6-fold increase in the (35S) sulphate incorporation after addition of 0.1 mM xyloside to the incubation medium indicate that these intracellular sulphated glycosaminoglycans exist in the form of proteoglycans. They were characterized by their resistance to degradation by pronase, papain or cathepsin D, as assessed by gel filtration chromatography on Sepharose CL6B or CL4B. After the glycosaminoglycans were digested with chondroitinase AC, thin-layer chromatography analysis indicated the presence of delta di-4S and delta di-6S in a ratio of 7:1. The presence of such protease-resistant proteochondroitin sulphate in intracytoplasmic granules of both Kurloff cells and other natural killer cell types is emphasized.

Alpha naphthyl acetate esterase activities in guinea pig Kurloff cells: a cytochemical and electrophoretic study.

We established the presence of nonspecific esterases in the Kurloff cell (KC) by cytochemical methods at both light and electron microscope levels. Acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) activities were localized on the external face of the plasma membrane and on the external surface of the membrane surrounding the Kurloff body. Different cytosoluble KC extracts were obtained from purified splenic KC suspensions. About 18 isoenzymes were observed by isoelectric focusing, whereas after polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis in native conditions almost all activity was observed on a few broad bands with very high apparent molecular weights, suggesting their oligomeric arrangement. After a first aqueous extraction step which released only a few isoenzymes, the remaining pellet was subjected to Triton X-100. This released almost all the isoenzymes observed after direct Triton X-100 extraction. These data suggest that almost all the KC esterases are membrane-bound enzymes, in agreement with the subcellular enzyme distribution. Different substrates were also used to characterize the different specificities of the KC isoesterases. Weak activity was detected with alpha-naphthyl butyrate by light cytochemistry, which essentially corresponded, on zymograms, to the membrane-bound esterase activity.

Presence of low affinity estrogen binding sites in guinea-pig Kurloff cells.

Estrogen treatment of guinea-pig leads to an increase in the number of lymphoid cells containing Kurloff inclusions. The presence of estradiol binding sites in cytosolic extracts of Kurloff cells was investigated. We confirm here our previous inability to measure the typical type I estrogen receptor by using the classical dextran-charcoal procedure to separate bound and free ligand. We report now that low affinity estrogen binding sites (Kd approximately equal to 11 nM) can be detected when Kurloff cell extracts were fractionated on hydroxylapatite or Sephadex LH-20 after binding assay. Although the real function of these binding sites remains to be defined, the question arises again whether Kurloff cell represents a target cell for estrogens.

Cytochemical localization of arylsulfatase in guinea-pig Kurloff cells.

Kurloff cells are mononuclear cells characterized by a large metachromatic and PAS-positive inclusion called the Kurloff body. Bone-marrow and spleen Kurloff cells were incubated with p-nitrocatechol sulfate as substrate and barium chloride as capturing agent for the ultracytochemical detection of the lysosomal marker enzyme, arylsulfatase. Enzymatic reaction product was consistently found as a single spot-like deposit confined to the rim of the Kurloff body. These results, and the previously described presence of other acid hydrolases and sulfated glycosamino++glycans, emphasize the similarities between the Kurloff body and lysosomes. Reaction product could also be found occasionally in segments of the rough endoplasmic reticulum but it was absent from the Golgi apparatus. This arylsulfatase activity could be related to the natural killer activity of Kurloff cells.