Cytochemical staining of the endoplasmic reticulum and glycogen in mouse anterior pituitary cells

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and glycogen in secretory cells of anterior pituitary glands from control and fasted mice were investigated ultrastructurally using cytochemical staining techniques. Potential enzyme cytochemical markers for the ER included glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) and nucleoside diphosphatase (NDPase) activities. Presumptive glycogen particles were identified in tissue postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide-1.5% potassium ferrocyanide or in ultrathin sections poststained with periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate. The ER appeared to be related structurally and cytochemically to the nuclear envelope and cis Golgi saccules. Similar relationships between the ER and the trans Golgi saccules or GERL were not observed. In anterior pituitary glands from control mice, G6Pase activity was prominent within the lumen of the ER, nuclear envelope, and cis Golgi saccules of all cells; reaction product was absent in the trans Golgi saccules and in GERL. G6Pase activity was sparse to non-existent in anterior pituitary cells from fasted mice. The cytochemical reaction utilizing the Gomori lead capture method indicated that G6Pase in anterior pituitary cells may function as a phosphohydrolase for converting glucose-6-phosphate to glucose. Cytochemical localization of NDPase activity was not evident in the ER; reaction product was localized consistently in one or two trans Golgi saccules and occasionally in GERL and nascent secretory granules. Presumptive glycogen particles in each of the different secretory cell types from control mice appeared as 20-30 nm wide, electron-dense particles scattered as single entities throughout the cytoplasm. Anterior pituitary glands from fasted mice exhibited conspicuous and numerous clumps of glycogen particles in addition to scattered particles in all cell types except corticotrophs, which appeared to be devoid of glycogen. Glycogen particles were absent in anterior pituitary cells incubated in a medium containing diastase. Our results suggest that in anterior pituitary cells of the mouse: 1) the phosphohydrolytic activity of G6Pase is a reliable cytochemical marker for the ER; 2) the ER is associated morphologically and cytochemically with the cis face but not with the trans face of the Golgi apparatus or with GERL; 3) some glucose-6-phosphate, a possible substrate for G6Pase in vivo, may be derived indirectly from glycogen stores; and 4) modulations in G6Pase activity and glycogen storage during fasting may reflect an alteration in energy metabolism.