A study of the acid phosphatase in the cells of bone and soft parts tumors, and of other tumorous conditions

Abstract

The acid phosphatase in the cells of bone and soft parts tumors, and of other tumorous conditions in our Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Kumamoto University Medical School from mid-1979 through mid-1983 were analysed by light microscopic and electron microscopic histochemical studies and their inhibition studies. The histochemical and their inhibiting studies of acid phosphatase by azo dye method in the cells of bone and soft parts tumors and of other tumorous conditions were undertaken in order to characterize them with a view to providing helpful diagnostic features. The acid phosphatase in some giant cells and tumor cells of several kinds of tumors, whose reaction against inhibitors was different from that of lysosomal acid phosphatase, was observed. In the giant cells of giant cell tumor of bone, acid-para-nitrophenyl phosphatase was demonstrated by the method of Miyayama , et al. using sodium-para-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate. In addition, the fine structural localization of acid phosphatase in giant cell tumor of bone was studied by Gomori's method and by the method of Miyayama , et al. By Gomori's method, acid phosphatase activity was demonstrated in lysosome, secondary lysosome-like organelles and the digestive vacuoles in the giant cells. In the stromal cells, that activity was demonstrated in lysosomes. By the method of Miyayama , et al., acid para-nitrophenyl phosphatase was demonstrated in the Golgi complex and the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum in the giant cell. Therefore, in the giant cells and the tumor cells of some kinds of tumors, non-lysosomal acid phosphatase besides lysosomal acid phosphatase was recognized. The demonstration of non-lysosomal acid phosphatase was a useful tool for the differential diagnosis of tumors and tumorous conditions in bone and soft parts.