Peroxisomes: 40 years of histochemical staining, personal reminiscences

The historical circumstances that led to the discovery of the 3,3'-diamino-benzidine (DAB) method for staining of peroxisomes 40 years ago are reviewed. In the course of studies on the uptake and absorption of horse radish peroxidase in mammalian liver, in sections incubated for detection of pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Histochemistry and cell biology 2009-04, Vol.131 (4), p.437-440
Main Author: Dariush Fahimi, H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3,3'-Diaminobenzidine - chemistry
Animals
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Catalase - metabolism
Cell Biology
Cellular biology
Developmental Biology
Histocytochemistry - methods
Histology
Liver - enzymology
Liver - ultrastructure
Mice
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission - methods
Peroxidase - metabolism
Peroxisomes - metabolism
Rats
Review
Scientific method
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Summary:The historical circumstances that led to the discovery of the 3,3'-diamino-benzidine (DAB) method for staining of peroxisomes 40 years ago are reviewed. In the course of studies on the uptake and absorption of horse radish peroxidase in mammalian liver, in sections incubated for detection of peroxidase activity in DAB, it was noted that peroxisomes also stained positively for peroxidase activity. Subsequently, it was revealed that the peroxidatic activity of catalase, which is abundantly present in peroxisomes, is responsible for that staining. This notion was confirmed in quantitative biochemical studies with crystalline beef liver catalase and in tracer studies using catalase as an ultrastructural tracer. The application of the DAB method led to the discovery of peroxisomes as a ubiquitous eukaryotic cell organelle, attracting great interest in their investigation in biomedical research.
ISSN:0948-6143
1432-119X
DOI:10.1007/s00418-009-0562-8