Fixation by osmium tctroxidc and glutaraldehyde of zymogcn granules isolated from rat parotid and pancreas was investigated. Protein determinations showed that osmium tctroxide caused rapid release of most of the soluble protein of the granule during fixation in buffered isotonic sucrose. Such granules when examined in the electron microscope after shadow casting appeared quite flat, indicating...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) protein thrombospondin (TSP) binds specifically to polymorphonuclear leucocyte (PMN) surface receptors and promotes cell adhesion and motility. TSP receptor expression increases 30-fold after activation with the synthetic chemotactic peptide, N-formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine (FMLP) or the Ca2+ ionophore A23187, in combination with cytochalasin B. The expressi...

Background: Some types of implants used for orbital implantation have side effects and complications. In this study we have evaluated beta-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP: ChronOS) granules as an orbital implant. Methods: Eighteen rabbits randomly allocated to four groups. Right eye enucleation performed in groups I to III followed by filling with autologous bone particles (n=5), a mixture of autol...

For ultrastructural localization of acid mucosubstances in rabbit granulocytes, bone marrow and buffy coat specimens were fixed with formalin, glutaraldehyde, or osmium tetroxide, sectioned at 40 micro, and stained with the Rinehart and Abul-Haj solution of dialyzed iron (DI). Heterophils revealed DI staining on the outer surface of the plasma membrane, in the Golgi complex involved in primary ...

In regulated exocytosis, it is generally assumed that vesicles must stably "dock" at the plasma membrane before they are primed to become fusion-competent. However, recent biophysical analyses in living cells that visualize fluorescent secretory granules have revealed that exocytic behaviors are not necessarily uniform: some granules beneath the plasma membrane are resistant to Ca(2+)-triggered...

The aim of this study was to prepare, using taste-masked granules, tablets which can rapidly disintegrate in saliva (rapidly disintegrating tablet), of drugs with bitter taste (pirenzepine HCl or oxybutynin HCl). The taste-masked granules were prepared using aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymers (Eudragit E-100) by the extrusion method. None of the drugs dissolved from the granules (% of dissolved...

The exocyst complex subunit Sec5 is a downstream effector of RalA-GTPase which promotes RalA-exocyst interactions and exocyst assembly, serving to tether secretory granules to docking sites on the plasma membrane. We recently reported that RalA regulates biphasic insulin secretion in pancreatic islet β cells in part by tethering insulin secretory granules to Ca(2+) channels to assist excitosome...

Exophilin8/MyRIP/Slac2-c is an effector protein of the small GTPase Rab27a and is specifically localized on retinal melanosomes and secretory granules. We investigated the role of exophilin8 in insulin granule trafficking. Exogenous expression of exophilin8 in pancreatic β cells or their cell line, MIN6, polarized (exophilin8-positive) insulin granules at the cell corners, where both cortical a...

Mast cells degranulate and release the contents of intracellular secretory granules in response to the cross-linking of FcepsilonRI by multivalent antigens. These granules contain a variety of biologically active inflammatory mediators; however, it is not clear whether these granules are homogenous or whether there is heterogeneity within the secretory granule population in mast cells. By using...

Chemotherapeutics and other pharmaceuticals are common sources of cellular stress. Darinaparsin (ZIO-101) is a novel organic arsenical under evaluation as a cancer chemotherapeutic, but the drug's precise mechanism of action is unclear. Stress granule formation is an important cellular stress response, but the mechanisms of formation, maintenance, and dispersal of RNA-containing granules are no...