Immunohistochemical studies on synthesis and distribution of Hageman factor and kininogen

Immunohistochemical localization of Hageman factor and high molecular weight kininogen were investigated in liver, skin and kidney of guinea pig using a new conjugation method with maleimide derivative as the coupling reagent at the level of light and electron microscopes. In the liver, the positive reactions of both factors were observed in the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulums and the Golgi apparatus in hepatocytes. In Kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells, the reaction products were visible only in the endocytotic vesicles. These findings suggested that guinea pig Hageman factor and high molecular weight kininogen were synthesized only in hepatocytes at least the liver. In the skin, positive reactions were seen in the intercellular space of epidermis, and along the basement membranes of epidermis and vessels, and among the collagen fibers in interstitial tissue particularly in papillary dermis. This interstitial presence of these molecules was also seen in liver and kidney, which suggested that Hageman factor and high molecular weight kininogen were widely distributed in the interstitial tissue space even under normal conditions. In addition, positive reactions were obtained in the reabsorption vesicles and the lysosomes of the proximal convoluted tubules of kidney and in the pinocytotic vesicles of the basal cells of epidermis. According to these findings, it was suggested that both factors were produced in hepatocytes, secreted into the blood stream, distributed in the interstitial tissue by vascular permeability even under normal condition, and reabsorbed and catabolized in the kidney and the skin.