Cytochemical markers of bladder carcinogenesis

Enzyme cytochemical and immunocytochemical techniques at the light and electron microscope levels were used to study the distribution of potential markers of chemical transformation in rodent bladders. In rat tumours induced by in vivo treatment with methylnitrosourea, alkaline phosphatase localization was normal on the external surface of the plasma membranes of some cells but abnormal in others where reaction product was seen only on intracellular membranes. 5'-Nucleotidase localization was abnormal in all cells, being seen on endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membranes only, while in normal bladders only ectoenzyme localization was seen. Heterogeneity of alkaline phosphatase amd 5'-nucleotidase localization was seen on the plasma membranes of these tumours after 15 days in organ culture. Some cells produced enzyme and others did not; in other cells only parts of the membrane reacted heavily, while other regions were negative. In transformed cell cultures and tumours of mouse bladder derived by in vitro treatment of explants with dimethylbenz (a) anthracene, a bimodal pattern of alkaline phosphatase localization was seen. Cells had either normal ectoenzyme reaction product or abnormal intracellular membrane reaction product. 5'-Nucleotidase and ADPase were lost after transformation while cAMP-phosphodiesterase was retained as an ectoenzyme. Mg.ATPase and a cAMP-independent, calcium-insensitive 'protein phosphatase' were induced in transformed cell cultures. An epithelial antigen was detected in the cytoplasm of both normal and transformed cells associated with reticular cytoplasmic ground substance, plasma membrane vesicles and cytoskeletal elements.