17.
A C T I O N S O F
V I T A M I N S A
A N D
C
681
herbivorous Indian bird called the red-vented bulbul (Burns, 1957;
Grollman and Lehninger, 1957; Roy and Guha, 1958). The pathways
of synthesis and catabolism have been thoroughly worked out in recent
years and in a variety of tissues (Jackel, Mosbach, Burns and King,
1950; Horowitz, Doerschuk and King, 1952; Douglas and King, 1953;
Horowitz and King, 1953; Isherwood, Chen and Mapson, 1954a, b ;
Mapson, Isherwood and Chen, 1954; Loewus, Jang and Seegmiller,
1956, 1958; Loewus, Finkle and Jang, 1958; Loewus and Jang, 1957,
1958a, b ; Nath and Belkhode, 1959; Brown, 1960; Burns, 1960;
Chatterjee, Chatterjee, Ghosh, Ghosh and Guha, 1960a, b ; Chatterjee,
Kar, Ghosh and Guha, 1960c, 1961; Isherwood, Mapson and Chen,
1960; Ashwell, Kanfer, Smiley and Burns, 1961; Bublitz, 1961;
Bublitz and Lehninger, 1961; Isherwood and Mapson, 1961; Kagawa,
Takiguchi and Shimazano, 1961; Loewus, 1961; Shimazano and Mano,
1961; Belkhode and Nath, 1962; Volk and Larsen, 1962).
B . I N T R A C E L L U L A R D I S T R I B U T I O N A N D
S I T E O F
S Y N T H E S I S
I N T H E
C E L L
The cytological localization of ASA has been studied in adult and
embryonic tissues by Bourne (1942), Barnett and Bourne (1942) and
Weel (1948), in explanted cells by Barnett (1942) and in insect neurons
by Moussa and Branhway (1958), using silver impregnation methods
which are today open to question.
These authors found a positive reaction with Bourne's acid silver
nitrate method in diffuse cytoplasmic granules and associated with
mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus, but Sosa (1952), using a
modification of Giroud and Leblond's original silver method, found it
as a granular precipitate randomly dispersed in the cytoplasm. He
argues that the silver impregnation of the Golgi zone and mitochondria
is an artifact. Some of the cytochemical findings, such as the high
content of ASA in mesenchymal tissues and its complete absence from
leucocytes and late embryonic liver, are in descrepancy with quantitative chemical determinations.
Chayen (1953) studied the intracellular distribution of the vitamin
with two modifications of Bourne's silver method under critically
controlled conditions, checked by spectrophotometry. He found that
meristematic cells, both in interphase and during mitosis, gave a
positive reaction for ASA on the chromosomes, but after further trials
with two methods of fixation especially suited for preserving cytoplasmic structures, he concluded that the vitamin must have migrated
from the cytoplasm, possibly from mitochondria, which are destroyed
by the acid fixation routinely used in silver methods.
The immediate precursors, gulono- and galactonol-actones, are
z*
A C T I O N S O F
V I T A M I N S A
A N D
C
681
herbivorous Indian bird called the red-vented bulbul (Burns, 1957;
Grollman and Lehninger, 1957; Roy and Guha, 1958). The pathways
of synthesis and catabolism have been thoroughly worked out in recent
years and in a variety of tissues (Jackel, Mosbach, Burns and King,
1950; Horowitz, Doerschuk and King, 1952; Douglas and King, 1953;
Horowitz and King, 1953; Isherwood, Chen and Mapson, 1954a, b ;
Mapson, Isherwood and Chen, 1954; Loewus, Jang and Seegmiller,
1956, 1958; Loewus, Finkle and Jang, 1958; Loewus and Jang, 1957,
1958a, b ; Nath and Belkhode, 1959; Brown, 1960; Burns, 1960;
Chatterjee, Chatterjee, Ghosh, Ghosh and Guha, 1960a, b ; Chatterjee,
Kar, Ghosh and Guha, 1960c, 1961; Isherwood, Mapson and Chen,
1960; Ashwell, Kanfer, Smiley and Burns, 1961; Bublitz, 1961;
Bublitz and Lehninger, 1961; Isherwood and Mapson, 1961; Kagawa,
Takiguchi and Shimazano, 1961; Loewus, 1961; Shimazano and Mano,
1961; Belkhode and Nath, 1962; Volk and Larsen, 1962).
B . I N T R A C E L L U L A R D I S T R I B U T I O N A N D
S I T E O F
S Y N T H E S I S
I N T H E
C E L L
The cytological localization of ASA has been studied in adult and
embryonic tissues by Bourne (1942), Barnett and Bourne (1942) and
Weel (1948), in explanted cells by Barnett (1942) and in insect neurons
by Moussa and Branhway (1958), using silver impregnation methods
which are today open to question.
These authors found a positive reaction with Bourne's acid silver
nitrate method in diffuse cytoplasmic granules and associated with
mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus, but Sosa (1952), using a
modification of Giroud and Leblond's original silver method, found it
as a granular precipitate randomly dispersed in the cytoplasm. He
argues that the silver impregnation of the Golgi zone and mitochondria
is an artifact. Some of the cytochemical findings, such as the high
content of ASA in mesenchymal tissues and its complete absence from
leucocytes and late embryonic liver, are in descrepancy with quantitative chemical determinations.
Chayen (1953) studied the intracellular distribution of the vitamin
with two modifications of Bourne's silver method under critically
controlled conditions, checked by spectrophotometry. He found that
meristematic cells, both in interphase and during mitosis, gave a
positive reaction for ASA on the chromosomes, but after further trials
with two methods of fixation especially suited for preserving cytoplasmic structures, he concluded that the vitamin must have migrated
from the cytoplasm, possibly from mitochondria, which are destroyed
by the acid fixation routinely used in silver methods.
The immediate precursors, gulono- and galactonol-actones, are
z*