[Histonet] RE: Retic jargon

[Monson, Frederick]

Maresch (1905) was an old dead guy when I was a young guy in 1965 and
working with the "Silver Impregnation for Retiuclin" - by Pearse (1968)
out of Maresch?  Book is gone, and I'm just lingering.  

Two historic points.
	1.  The above impregnation - of only meager vicarious value -
'showed' fine fibers/fibrils around cells (especially in hematopoietic
tissue) that were generally unstained by other prevailing methods, AND
did NOT 'color' collagen except to a 'light tan'.  
	2.  Even though Watson and Crick presented the model for DNA in
1953, it did not inhabit many undergraduate classrooms until the
mid-1960's - acknowledging exceptions such as Havahd and Yail.  

Thus, even though silver impregnation of reticular fibers, reticulin or
a reticulum is still performed, the procedure does not beat the MAb for
Collagen III.  Although, I must add, a notable MAb for an (human)
elastin epitope proved conclusively (and negatively!) in the mid 1990's
that the rabbit lacked elastin in its urinary bladder despite proof to
the contrary from a widely accepted Gomori's Aldehyde Fuchsin stain.

I still say, if we just stay focused on the significant surgical
importance of dissection vs. disection, we will be far better off in the
long run.  We absolutely must dissuade young medical students from
either enunciating or doing dIsections.

In the domain of the physical sciences, we must pass a law that prevents
anyone who can't pronounce the word 'NUCLEAR', from ever purchasing or
having access to a red telephone.

Cheers,

Fred Monson

Frederick C. Monson, PhD
Technical Director
Microanalysis and Imaging Research and Training Center (MIRTC)
Large Scientific Instrument Core
Geology, West Chester University
S. Church St. and W. Rosedale Ave.
West Chester, PA, 19320
610-738-0437
fmonson <@t> wcupa.edu
New Scheduler:  http://lexspiac.wcupa.edu/cgi-bin/ureserve_gold.pl
Web Page:  http://lexspiac.wcupa.edu

 


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Renko,
Heather D.
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 1:39 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] RE: Retic jargon

We say "Reticulum" ??? 
The term reticulin was coined in 1892 by M. Siegfried.[2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/> 
Today the term reticulin or reticular fiber is restricted to fibers
composed of type III collagen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collagen> .
However, during the pre-molecular era, there was confusion in the use of
the term 'reticulin', which was used to describe two structures:
*	the argyrophilic (silver staining) fibrous structures present in
basement membranes <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basement_membrane>  
*	histologically similar fibers present in developing connective
tissue[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/> . 
The history of the reticulin silver stain is reviewed by Puchtler et al.
(1978).[4] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/>  The abstract of this paper
says:
		Maresch (1905) introduced Bielschowsky's silver
impregnation technic for neurofibrils as a stain for reticulum fibers,
but emphasized the nonspecificity of such procedures. This lack of
specificity has been confirmed repeatedly. Yet, since the 1920's the
definition of "reticulin" and studies of its distribution were based
solely on silver impregnation technics. The chemical mechanism and
specificity of this group of stains is obscure. Application of Gomori's
and Wilder's methods to human tissues showed variations of staining
patterns with the fixatives and technics employed. Besides reticulum
fibers, various other tissue structures, e.g. I bands of striated
muscle, fibers in nervous tissues, and model substances, e.g.
polysaccharides, egg white, gliadin, were also stained. Deposition of
silver compounds on reticulum fibers was limited to an easily removable
substance; the remaining collagen component did not bind silver. These
histochemical studies indicate that silver impregnation technics for
reticulum fibers have no chemical significance and cannot be considered
as histochemical technics for "reticulin" or type III collagen.


 Who'd a thunk it?  TGIF


Heather D. Renko, Histology Coordinator
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center
5666 East State Street
Rockford, Illinois 61108
Direct: 815-395-5410
Heather.D.Renko <@t> osfhealthcare.org


========================================================================
======
The information in this message is confidential and may be legally
privileged. Access to this message by anyone other than the addressee is
not authorized. If you are not the intended recipient, or an agent of
the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, or distribution of the
message or any action or omission taken by you in reliance on it, is
prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this message in
error, please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete the
original e-mail, attachment(s), and any copies.
========================================================================
======
_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet