Ultrastructural localization of membrane phosphatases in teratocarcinoma and early embryos

Ectodermal cells of the two- and three-germ layer-thick mouse egg-cylinders are considered to be the progenitors of embryonal carcinoma cells in embryo-derived teratocarcinomas. In an attempt to find differences between the tumor cells and equivalent embryonic cells, we have studied the electron microscopic cytochemical localization of alkaline phosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, and Mg2+-activated adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) in embryo-derived teratocarcinomas and mouse egg-cylinders. Alkaline phosphatase was detected in both embryonic and tumor cells, but its activity appeared much more intense in the tumor cells. No ATPase was demonstrated in embryonic ectodermal cells of 6-day-old embryos and only in occasional cells of 7- and 8-day-old embryos. No 5'-nucleotidase activity could be demonstrated in 6- to 8-day-old cylinders. There was marked ATPase and 5'-nucleotidase activity in the membranes of embryonal carcinoma cells. These data point out some differences on the plasma membrane between the embryonal carcinoma cells and equivalent embryonic cells. The potential significance of these differences is discussed with regards to the transformation of embryonic cells in tumor cells. (Am J Pathol 87:297-310, 1977).