Summary
Histochemical studies previously undertaken showed that tissue mucins (glycoproteins) of the rat submaxillary salivary gland and other organs are preserved very satisfactorily by formaldehyde vapour treatment applied after freeze-drying of the tissue.
It was thought desirable to confirm these histochemical findings by quantitative chemical data. This was performed by studying the effect of formaldehyde vapour treatment on the solubility of proteins in the freeze-dried rat submaxillary gland.
Large quantities of protein (about 30 to 60 per cent of the dry weight) could be removed by aqueous extraction from the freeze-dried control samples, which had not received any formaldehyde vapour treatment, but very little protein (about 0.5 to 4 per cent of the dry weight) could be extracted from those samples which had been exposed to this vapour at 50°C for 3 hours.
Each of the experiments performed confirmed this overall picture, but there were differences in the amount of protein extracted among the control samples, as well as among the formaldehyde vapour treated ones; it has been suggested that these differences were due to variations in the proportion and/or type of protein present, most probably caused by fluctuations in the content of secretory mucins.
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In part fulfilment for the Doctorate of Philosophy, University of London.
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Tock, E.P.C., Woodward, E.M. & Pearse, A.G.E. Preservation of tissue mucins by freeze-drying and vapour fixation. Histochemie 7, 224–229 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00577842
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00577842