Cytophotometry and its biological application

Changes in neuronal DNA content variation in the human brain during aging

The human brain has been proposed to represent a genetic mosaic, containing a small but constant number of neurons with an amount of DNA exceeding the diploid level that appear to be generated through various chromosome segregation defects initially. While a portion of these cells apparently die during development, neurons with abnormal chromosomal copy number have been identified in the mature brain. This genomic alteration might to lead to chromosomal instability affecting neuronal viability and could thus contribute to age-related mental disorders. Changes in the frequency of neurons with such structural genomic variation in the adult and aging brain, however, are unknown. Here, we quantified the frequency of neurons with a more than diploid DNA content in the cerebral cortex of normal human brain and analyzed its changes between the fourth and ninth decades of life. We applied a protocol of slide-based cytometry optimized for DNA quantification of single identified neurons, which allowed to analyze the DNA content of about 500 000 neurons for each brain. On average, 11.5% of cortical neurons showed DNA content above the diploid level. The frequency of neurons with this genomic alteration was highest at younger age and declined with age. Our results indicate that the genomic variation associated with DNA content exceeding the diploid level might compromise viability of these neurons in the aging brain and might thus contribute to susceptibilities for age-related CNS disorders. Alternatively, a potential selection bias of "healthy aging brains" needs to be considered, assuming that DNA content variation above a certain threshold associates with Alzheimer's disease.

Cell cycle activation and aneuploid neurons in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by synaptic degeneration associated with fibrillar aggregates of the amyloid-ß peptide and the microtubule-associated protein tau. The progression of neurofibrillary degeneration throughout the brain during AD follows a predictive pattern which provides the basis for the neuropathological staging of the disease. This pattern of selective neuronal vulnerability against neurofibrillary degeneration matches the regional degree of neuronal plasticity and inversely recapitulates ontogenetic and phylogenetic brain development which links neurodegenerative cell death to neuroplasticity and brain development. Here, we summarize recent evidence for a loss of neuronal differentiation control as a critical pathogenetic event in AD, associated with a reactivation of the cell cycle and a partial or full replication of DNA giving rise to neurons with a content of DNA above the diploid level. Neurons with an aneuploid set of chromosomes are also present at a low frequency in the normal brain where they appear to be well tolerated. In AD, however, where the number of aneuploid neurons is highly increased, a rather selective cell death of neurons with this chromosomal aberrancy occurs. This finding add aneuploidy to the list of critical molecular events that are shared between neurodegeneration and oncogenesis. It defines a molecular signature for neuronal vulnerability and directs our attention to a failure of neuronal differentiation control as a critical pathogenetic event and potential therapeutic target in AD.

Endoreplication: a molecular trick during animal neuron evolution

The occurrence of endoreplication has been repeatedly reported in many organisms, including protists, plants, worms, arthropods, molluscs, fishes, and mammals. As a general rule, cells possessing endoreplicated genomes are large-sized and highly metabolically active. Endoreplication has not been frequently reported in neuronal cells that are typically considered to be fully differentiated and non-dividing, and which normally contain a diploid genome. Despite this general statement, various papers indicate that giant neurons in molluscs, as well as supramedullary and hypothalamic magnocellular neurons in fishes, contain DNA amounts larger than 2C. In order to study this issue in greater detail here, we review the available data about endoreplication in invertebrate and vertebrate neurons, and discuss its possible functional significance. As a whole, endoreplication seems to be a sort of molecular trick used by neurons in response to the high functional demands that they experience during evolution.

Microdensitometry

Microdensitometry, or microspectrophotometry, is the measurement of the concentration or mass of a chromophore in microscopically defined regions, and is governed by well-established laws of physics. Initially it proved of value in Feulgen cytophotometry of the relative amounts of DNA in individual nuclei of isolated cells. It has now achieved wide applicability to the measurement of cellular biochemical activity by means of stoichiometric chromogenic reactions. The validity of some of these measurements has been confirmed by comparative biochemical and microdensitometric assays. Thus microdensitometry, even of heterogeneously distributed chromophores, can be precise, provided that the technique is operated with due regard to its limitations within the laws of physics. The potential errors include: variation in thickness of tissue sections (path-length); scatter; glare; diffraction; occlusion of light by optically dense particles; and the inhomogeneity error. However, under correct conditions for the cytochemical reactions and for operating the microdensitometer, these potential errors become small or negligible. Thus the highly sensitive cytochemical bioassay of thyrotropin exemplifies the precision that can be achieved by controlled use of microdensitometry.

From pixels to picograms: a beginners' guide to genome quantification by Feulgen image analysis densitometry

The study of genome size variation is important from a number of practical and theoretical perspectives. For example, the long-standing "C-value enigma" relating to the more than 200,000-fold range in eukaryotic genome sizes is best studied from a broad comparative standpoint. Genome size data are also required in detailed analyses of genome structure and evolution. The choice of future genome sequencing projects will be dependent on knowledge regarding the sizes of genomes to be sequenced, and so on. To date, genome size data have been acquired primarily by Feulgen microdensitometry or flow cytometry. Each has several advantages but also important limitations. In this review, we provide a practical guide to the new technique of Feulgen image analysis densitometry. The review is designed for those interested in genome size measurements but not extensively experienced in histochemistry, densitometry, or microscopy. Therefore, relevant historical and technical background information is included. For easy reference, we provide recipes for required reagents, guidelines for cell staining, and a checklist of steps for successful image analysis. We hope that the accuracy, rapidity, and cost-effectiveness of Feulgen image analysis demonstrated here will stimulate further surveys of genome sizes in a variety of taxa.

The quantification of the histochemical protein staining with 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (HNA) demonstrating primary amino groups of proteins

The usefulness of the HNA-pH4-1d staining, which histochemically demonstrates primary protein amino groups under the conditions used, for the microphotometric quantification of proteins was investigated. A correlation (r = 0.986) has been found between the mean protein contents of fresh frozen and fixed sections prepared from different tissues of rats and the corresponding mean integrated extinction values determined histophotometrically after HNA-pH4-1d staining. A histophotometric extinction of E = 0.284 corresponded to 10(-12) g protein. The mean integrated extinction values determined cytophotometrically of different single cells and nuclei stained using the tetrazonium coupling method for proteins correlated (r = 0.989) with corresponding extinction values measured after HNA-pH4-1d staining. A cytophotometric extinction after HNA-pH4-1d staining of E = 0.130 correspond to 10(-12) g protein.

Regional ploidy variations in signet ring cell carcinomas of the stomach

Regional ploidy variations within individual tumors were analyzed by in-situ cytofluorometry of metaphase cells in Feulgen-stained paraffin sections, using 45 resected stomachs with early and advanced signet ring cell carcinomas. Aneuploid cells were found in one of 30 early cancers and in eight of 15 advanced cancers, and were almost always accompanied by diploid cancer cells in the mucosal part of the cancers. The diploid and the aneuploid cells were generally found to be distributed in different territories in the mucosa, and aneuploid foci were often included in the diploid area. These findings suggest the diploid origin of signet ring cell carcinomas and the occurrence of aneuploidy during the tumor development. Moreover, the aneuploid cells appeared to infiltrate beyond the mucosa more readily than the diploid cells; most of the aneuploid populations already invaded the extramucosal tissue, and the cancer cells infiltrating in the extramucosal tissue were predominantly aneuploid in six of the nine cancers with aneuploidy. Thus, it appears that the occurrence of aneuploid clones may accelerate the progression of signet ring cell carcinomas from early to advanced stages.

Chromatin texture changes related to proliferation and maturation in erythrocytes

Erythroid cell types were quantitatively assessed on the basis of the analysis of their nuclear images after Feulgen and Heidenhain blue counterstaining. An original nonsupervised classification method, developed in our laboratory, was applied to cell cycle analysis. Results obtained suggest that, in the four proliferative generation cycles, which concur with the successive morphological stages, there is a sequential flow of cells from one morphological stage to the next by cell cycling. We show that the chromatin pattern alone made it possible to set up a metric of the whole differentiation process occurring in the normal human erythroblastic lineage in which proliferating events occur.

Intranuclear differences in the response of Purkinje cell DNA of the rat cerebellum to bleomycin. A microphotometric and autoradiographic study

A single dose of the DNA-binding cytostatic agent bleomycin (100 micrograms/g body weight, subcutaneously) was given to 10-day-old rats to study unscheduled repair DNA synthesis in nucleolar and in bulk nuclear chromatin of postmitotic Purkinje neurons. The Feulgen reaction and Hoechst 33342 staining were used for quantitative evaluation of nuclear DNA content and chromatin structure. The repair synthesis of DNA was detected by 3H-thymidine autoradiography. The data showed a lesser staining of Purkinje as well as granule cell DNA by Hoechst 33342 in bleomycin-treated animals than in controls, but there was no difference in staining with the Feulgen reaction. The mechanisms of DNA staining by both cytochemical methods suggest that bleomycin reacted preferentially with AT-rich and single stranded DNA in cerebellar cells in vivo. Weak 3H-thymidine labelling was found in Purkinje cells of both control and treated rats, but in the latter group the labelling was more pronounced near or over the nucleolus. The enhanced unscheduled DNA synthesis in the nucleolar region of Purkinje cells of treated animals may be due to greater damage of DNA in this region or may indicate a greater ability of the nucleolar chromatin to repair its DNA.

A semi-automated procedure for aiding the diagnosis of cervical neoplasms based on the measurement of acid-labile DNA in exfoliated cells

Measurements of acid-labile fractions of DNA in cells exfoliated from cervical neoplasms (invasive squamous-cell carcinomas) using Feulgen techniques have shown elevated values in both abnormal and cytologically normal cell nuclei. These increased values occur early in the hydrolysis profiles before the Feulgen hydrolysis optimum for the cell nuclei of normal patients has been attained. They are of sufficient magnitude to enable a microcomputer programmed in BASIC to distinguish between normal and abnormal cells, even when the latter are of cytologically normal appearance. By semi-automating the measurement procedure using a microcomputer interfaced with a Vickers M86 microdensitometer, the assessment of acid-labile DNA in cell nuclei is proposed as a useful aid to the existing cytological diagnosis of cervical neoplasms.

Microspectrographic analysis of trypan blue-induced fluorescence in oocytes of the Japanese quail

It was shown that the vital dye trypan blue injected subcutaneously is adsorbed on exogenous yolk and stored in oocytes of Japanese quails. The binding sites of the dye could be visualized by fluorescence microscopy. The spectral distribution of the trypan blue-induced fluorescence emitted by yolk granules was analyzed microspectrographically. The analysis revealed that yolk granules exhibit a deep red fluorescence radiation with a maximum intensity at 670 nm, when blue or green excitation light is used. This fluorescence was exclusively induce by the presence of trypan blue, and not by contaminants of the dye. The fluorescence intensity did not decrease during processing of the tissue throughout the different solvents routinely used in light microscopy, especially after fixation in Heidenhain's fluid, nor did it suffer from pronounced fading during irradiation of the tissue. Model experiments showed that the value of the fluorescence emission maximum was concentration-dependent, and that amounts as little as 5 x 10(-3) mg trypan blue per ml solution containing an excess of yolk as a substrate for the dye, could clearly be detected and measured. It is suggested that a highly diluted solution of trypan blue can be used without teratogenic effects, as a tracer for exogenous yolk uptake and migration into oocytes, and that fluorescence microscopy is a reliable method for its further localization. A detailed account of the procedure is reported.

The assessment of DNA-synthetic activity

A method is described by which a numerical value can be assigned to the amount of DNA-synthesis shown graphically by population-histograms obtained by Feulgen cytophotometry. The index appeared to give a reasonable measure of DNA-synthetic activity in populations having very low, moderate and high mitotic indices and closely followed labelling indices obtained by autoradiography. Thus the advantage of a numerical value is that the DNA-synthetic activities in different populations can be compared for statistical analysis.

Demonstration of 2n spermatids in carriers of the "sex reversed" factor in the mouse by Feulgen cytophotometry

The "Sex Reversed" factor (SXY) leads to development of XX males. The condition is transmitted by XY-Sxr males. The testes of XY-Sxr carriers are characterized by patches of defective spermatogenesis with meiotic failure and appearance of extraordinary large spermatids. In the present study DNA content of the large spermatids is determined by Feulgen DNA measurement using a scanning cytophotometer. The large spermatids in XY-Sxr testes are shown to be 2n.

Cytophotometric re-investigation of DNA content in Purkinje cells of the rat cerebellum

Stage scanning cytophotometry of Feulgen-stained cell nuclei of the cerebellum of young adult rats revealed that the absorbance values of the majority of the Purkinje cells show a Gaussian distribution with a low coefficient of variance. The peak absorbance of this population is the same as that of the granule cells. About 1% of the Purkinje cells measured, were found to have a stain content which indicates a 4C amount of DNA. For both the granular and the Purkinje cell population, a very small number of nuclei possesses absorbance values intermediate between 2C and 4C. The present data suggest prevalent diploidy of the Purkinje cells, and are at variance with those postulating a 'tetraploid and/or hyperdiploid' status of this population.

Combined protein and DNA measurements by the ninhydrin-Schiff and Feulgen techniques

Feulgen nuclear staining with pararosanilin-SO2 was combined with the ninhydrin-Schiff technique. The aldehyde groups converted from primary amino groups are stained with an acriflavine-Schiff reaction. This results in a red nuclear fluorescence and a bright yellow cytoplasmic and nuclear fluorescence. The combined fluorescence staining facilitates cytofluorometric determination of total protein and DNA in the same cell. The ninhydrin-Schiff reaction is affected by the fixation procedure and the duration of the ninhydrin reaction. Investigations with a model system showed that proportionality between the fluorescence intensity of acriflavine and the amount of protein stained by the procedure was obtained after fixation with a fixation mixture suggested by Böhm et al. (1968) and a reaction with ninhydrin at 37 degrees C for 10 h. The ninhydrin-Schiff reaction has no effect on the fluorescence intensity of cells previously treated with pararosanilin-Feulgen staining and it is not affected itself by this previous procedure. Testing this double fluorescence staining on cytology specimens taken from patients with gastric carcinoma and uterine cervial carcinoma, cancer cells were shown to have markedly increased protein and DNA contents compared with those of normal cells.

Automatic fluorescence microphotometer using an image dissector tube

An automatic fluorescence microphotometer using an image dissector tube as the fluorescence detector is described. The image dissector tube is used in the photon-counting mode of operation to allow precise intensity measurements of weak fluorescent spots. With the support of a laboratory-built microcomputer system, the instrument can automatically search for cells stained with fluorescent dye in the microscope field; then the detected cells are individually put in the measuring probe region to have their fluorescence intensities measured. Finally a fluorescence distribution histogram of stained cells is automatically generated and graphically presented. The instrument also allows a fluorescence intensity mapping operation utilizing the conventional raster scanning technique. To demonstrate the system's performance, DNA in rat liver nuclei stained with Feulgen dye was measured.