Supravital uptake of methylene blue by dendritic cells within stratified squamous epithelia: a light and electron microscope study.

Electron microscopic data on methylene blue staining of dendritic cells in the epithelia of the soft palate and skin of the mouse after supravital dye injection are presented. The ultra-structural details were compared with corresponding light microscopic findings. Methylene blue stained tissue was fixed by immersion in a paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde solution containing phosphomolybdic acid. The ensuing dye precipitate was stabilized by ammonium heptamolybdate. The light microscopic investigation revealed that selective staining of dendritic cells depended on the presence of ambient oxygen. In addition, delicate morphological characteristics, like spinous structures of the dendrites, were visible. Some cells also showed terminal enlargements of the dendrites close to the surface of the epithelium. In general, visualization of morphological detail was superior to that obtained by conventional histological and immunohistochemical procedures. Nerve fibers were also stained within the epithelium as well as the subepithelial connective tissue. At the electron microscopic level, the dye was clearly identified as an electron dense precipitate that accumulated primarily within the cytoplasm near the plasma membrane. Furthermore, it was bound to the chromatin of the nuclei. No significant staining of mitochondria or other organelles was seen. Within the cytoplasm, the oxygen-dependent binding sites may be associated with heme proteins that attract both the dye in its reduced lipophilic leuco form and oxygen, followed by generation of oxygen radicals and a reoxidation of the leuco form to the cationic blue dye. Because of its selectivity for intraepithelial dendritic cells, the method described here supplements immunocytochemical procedures at both the light and electron microscopic levels.