The crystal structure of specific granules in human eosinophils studied by thin sectioning and deep-etching with the aid of Fourier transformation.
The crystal structures of specific granules in human eosinophils were studied by thin sectioning and deep-etching with the aid of Fourier transformation. The crystal, thought to be a simple cubic by previous studies by thin sectioning, was demonstrated as the body-centered cubic (the cesium chloride type) consisting of two kinds of particles. The crystal parameters obtained by deep-etching were slightly larger (a = b = c = 4.1-4.4 nm) than by thin sectioning (4.0 nm). By deep-etching, the crystal also showed the stacking folds suggesting the piled-up plates. Although it is known that the patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome have more hypodense eosinophils compared with normal persons, no morphological differences could be detected in the crystals between these eosinophils.
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.
S
S
Morio
N
N
Baba
K
K
Takabayashi
Y
Y
Toyama
H
H
Oh
S
S
Yoshida
T
T
Nagano
D003460:Crystallization; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000097:blood; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D005613:Freeze Etching; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods*