Pseudoisocyanin Staining of Insulin and Specificity of Empirical Islet Cell Stains

Two closely related pseudoisocyanins, N,N'-diethyl-6,6'-dichlorpseudoisocyanin chloride and N, N'-diethylpseudoisocyanin chloride, were tested for their metachromatic staining behavior with oxidized insulin. N,N'-diethyl-6,6-dichlorpseudoisocyanin chloride gave nonspecific metachromasia with collagen, mucus, and mast cells of adult tissues; almost all tissues of rat embryos exhibited nonspecific staining. Nonspecific reactions were rarely observed in adult or fetal tissues with the extremely labile metachromasia of N, N'-diethylpseudoiso-cyanin chloride. When oxidation time and temperatures are carefully controlled, this reagent apears to be highly specific for insulin-containing cells and can be used as a selective stain for beta cells. Paraffin sections of formalin fixed material were oxidized 45 sec at 28-29 C in freshly prepared acidified permanganic (2.5% KMnO4, 1; 5% H2SO4, 1; distilled water, 7-parts by volume), decolorized 30 sec in 5% oxalic acid, and washed 5 min in running tap water. After rinsing in 2 changes of distilled water, sections were stained 20 min in a 36 mg/100 ml aqueous solution of N, N'-diethylpseudoisocyanin chloride. Sections were then washed in running tap water until the albumen adhesive was decolorized, and mounted in Karo syrup diluted with an equal amount of distilled water. The insulin-containing cells are stained light to dark purple; all other tissue components, various shades of red. N, N'-diethylpseudoisocyanin chloride was used as a reference for evaluating the specificity of 5 commonly used empirical methods for demonstrating alpha and beta cells in pancreatic islets. Cells exhibiting pseudo isocyanin metachromasia were stained selectively by aldehyde-fuchsin, Heidenhain's azan, and chrome-hematoxylin. Aldehyde-Iuchsin was the only empirical stain tested which gave results comparable to pseudoisocyanin for clarity and definition of beta cells. After oxidation in acidified permanganate, azocarmine and phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin differentially stained alpha cells; cells demonstrated by these two methods did not exhibit pseudoisocyanin metachromasia. This histochemical procedure can precede empirical methods which require preliminary oxidation in acidified permanganate or it can follow empirical methods which do not extract the insulin nor alter its intramolecular disulfide bonds.