Skip to main content
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1970 Jun 1;45(3):586–597. doi: 10.1083/jcb.45.3.586

FURTHER BIOCHEMICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF GRANULE FRACTIONS FROM RABBIT HETEROPHIL LEUKOCYTES

Marco Baggiolini 1, James G Hirsch 1, Christian de Duve 1
PMCID: PMC2107935  PMID: 5459943

Abstract

Fractionation of rabbit heterophil leukocyte homogenates by isopycnic centrifugation as well as by zonal sedimentation has helped to characterize further the particulate components of these cells. Four classes have been identified: (A) Large (0.5–0.8 µm) and dense (1.26) azurophil or primary granules, containing all the myeloperoxidase, one-third of the lysozyme, and a major proportion of the lysosomal acid hydrolase activities of the cells. (B) Smaller (0.25–0.40 µm) and less dense (1.23) specific or secondary granules, containing 90% of the alkaline phosphatase and the remainder of the lysozyme activities, but very little if any acid hydrolases. (C) Particles of low density (1.20), containing the remainder of the lysosomal acid hydrolases. This fraction was heterogeneous, but showed abundant small rod- or dumbbell-shaped particles of moderate electron opacity, surrounded by a single membrane (tertiary granules?). The possible origin of these lysosomes from contaminating macrophages could not be ruled out but appeared unlikely. (D) Slowly sedimenting material of very low density (1.14), made up of large, empty vesicular membrane structures, and containing 10% of the alkaline phosphatase, and all of a thiol-dependent acid p-nitrophenyl phosphatase, an enzyme clearly different from the lysosomal acid phosphatase.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (926.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baggiolini M., De Duve C., Masson P. L., Heremans J. F. Association of lactoferrin with specific granules in rabbit heterophil leukocytes. J Exp Med. 1970 Mar 1;131(3):559–570. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.3.559. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bainton D. F., Farquhar M. G. Differences in enzyme content of azurophil and specific granules of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. II. Cytochemistry and electron microscopy of bone marrow cells. J Cell Biol. 1968 Nov;39(2):299–317. doi: 10.1083/jcb.39.2.299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bainton D. F., Farquhar M. G. Origin of granules in polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Two types derived from opposite faces of the Golgi complex in developing granulocytes. J Cell Biol. 1966 Feb;28(2):277–301. doi: 10.1083/jcb.28.2.277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DE DUVE C., PRESSMAN B. C., GIANETTO R., WATTIAUX R., APPELMANS F. Tissue fractionation studies. 6. Intracellular distribution patterns of enzymes in rat-liver tissue. Biochem J. 1955 Aug;60(4):604–617. doi: 10.1042/bj0600604. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Leighton F., Poole B., Beaufay H., Baudhuin P., Coffey J. W., Fowler S., De Duve C. The large-scale separation of peroxisomes, mitochondria, and lysosomes from the livers of rats injected with triton WR-1339. Improved isolation procedures, automated analysis, biochemical and morphological properties of fractions. J Cell Biol. 1968 May;37(2):482–513. doi: 10.1083/jcb.37.2.482. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Wetzel B. K., Horn R. G., Spicer S. S. Fine structural studies on the development of heterophil, eosinophil, and basophil granulocytes in rabbits. Lab Invest. 1967 Mar;16(3):349–382. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Wetzel B. K., Spicer S. S., Horn R. G. Fine structural localization of acid and alkaline phosphatases in cells of rabbit blood and bone marrow. J Histochem Cytochem. 1967 Jun;15(6):311–334. doi: 10.1177/15.6.311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES