Zinc iodide-osmium staining of membrane-coating granules in keratinized and non-keratinized mammalian oral epithelium.

Specimens of keratinized and non-keratinized oral epithelium were examined in the electron microscope after being stained with zinc iodide-osmium. In both types of tissue, reaction was seen in unmyelinated nerves, in the specific granules of epithelial Langerhans cells and within lysosome-like organelles and small vesicles associated with Golgi systems. In keratinized epithelia, the reaction was also present in the membrane-coating granules and between the deepest cells of the keratinized layer. In contrast, the membrane-coating granules of non-keratinized epithelia lacked Zn iodide-osmium staining despite the presence of reaction in adjacent Golgi systems. It is suggested that Zn iodide-osmium stains glycolipid or glycoprotein material in the cell. This material is elaborated in the Golgi systems from which lysosomes and the membrane-coating granules of keratinized tissues are probably derived.