Histochemical AMD electron microscopic studies of intercellular matrices of papilloma induced by painting DMBA on the skin of mice.

The localization and distribution of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in papilloma tissue which was introduced by painting DMBA on the back skin of ICR mice were observed by light and electron microscopy. GAG consisting mainly of hyaluronic acid could be detected histochemically on the cell surface and extracellular matrices of the basal layer of the papilloma, but it could not be observed in the non-neoplastic epidermis. After incubation of tissue segments in a medium containing 35SO4, an autoradiograph was made, and 35S-radioactivity was observed in the interface between the papilloma epidermis and dermis. Ultrastructurally, the cell surface of keratinocytes in the basal layer of the papilloma was stained intensely with ruthenium red. A cell line was obtained from the papilloma, and GAG could be demonstrated on the cell surface and in the intercellular matrix of the cultivated keratinocytes by treatment with hyaluronidase. The significance of GAG in the proliferating squamous cells was discussed. ACTA PATHOL. JPN. 34: 499–506, 1984.