Ultrastructural visualisation of carbohydrate groups in the surface coating of hamster alveolar macrophages and pneumonocytes.

The surface coating of the alveolar macrophages and pneumonocytes of hamster lung was studied using an electron microscopy technique. Slices of lung tissue were fixed in aldehyde, labelled with a battery of lectin-horseradish peroxidase conjugates, incubated in a diaminobenzidine-hydrogen peroxide medium and then postfixed in an osmium tetroxide solution. The results of the study suggest that the surface coating of the pneumonocytes and macrophages contains the following carbohydrate groups: N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, D-mannose, L-fucose, D-galactose and sialic acid.