Autometallographic visualization of glycosaminoglycans in the tongue mucosa of rats using cuprolinic blue and enzymatic digestions.

In order to visualize by light microscopy the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the rat tongue mucosa, the tissue was fixed with cuprolinic-blue (CB)-aldehyde and the staining enhanced by autometallographic (AM) procedure. As other polyanions were also detected, enzymatic digestions with hyaluronidase, chondroitinase ABC and pronase were performed on these tissues in order to test the specificity of the staining. Chondroitinase ABC caused a dramatic decrease of silver grains in the lamina propria whereas hyaluronidase and pronase induced only discrete or no modification. This supported the concept that the GAGs visualized by CB and autometallography in this area as dermatan sulphate. The other polyanions (mostly DNA and RNA) seen in the epithelial layers were unaffected by these enzyme treatments.