Electron microscope localisation of insulin-like immunoreactivity of conventionally processed human insulinomas

Tumors of the endocrine/neuroendocrine system: an overview

For the sake of discussion, the markedly diversified tumors of the endocrine/neuroendocrine system are classified as those originating in classic epithelial endocrine organs (eg, adrenal cortical adenomas), from the diffuse endocrine cells (eg, jejunal carcinoid tumors), or from clusters of these cells (eg, islet cell tumors); and those arising from neurosecretory neurons (eg, neuroblastoma) or paraganglia (eg, carotid body tumor). Although traditional transmission electron microscopy is useful for identifying neurosecretory or endosecretory granules as such, with few exceptions (eg, insulin-containing granules with a complex paracrystalline core) it is not possible to ascribe a granule type (size, shape, or ultrastructure) to a distinct nosologic entity or secretory product because of their overlapping fine structures in different cell types. Immunoelectron microscopy methods utilizing colloidal gold-labeled secondary antibodies can be used to localize virtually any antigen (peptide or neuroamine) to a specific neurosecretory or endosecretory granule or other cell structure. General endocrine/neuroendocrine cell markers such as neuron-specific enolase, the chromogranins, and synaptophysin are useful in identifying neuroendocrine differentiation in a neoplasm using routine immunohistochemical procedures. The current relevance of the APUD concept of Pearse as well as the biologic importance of endocrine/neuroendocrine secretory products such as bombesin and insulinlike growth factors also are discussed.

Upper abdominal neoplasms: an introduction and selected references

The organs in the upper half of the abdominal cavity can give rise to a highly heterogeneous collection of neoplasms that encompasses a broad spectrum of clinical features, light microscopic appearances, immunostaining properties, and fine structure. Because of the anatomic proximity of the viscera in this region, the differential diagnosis of an upper abdominal mass may include consideration of tumors that arise from the stomach, duodenum, liver, kidney, adrenal, and pancreas. There are many distinctive ultrastructural features among the various tumors that can be used effectively by the diagnostic electron microscopist, but it is also important to take into account the considerable overlap in fine structure that occurs among different tumors and among similar tumors from different organs. In the session on upper abdominal neoplasms, the electron microscopic characteristics of the common tumors of each viscus were reviewed before the presentation of individual case studies that incorporated original observations and illustrated some unusual entities. The selection of cases that follows is inevitably small and arbitrary, but the cases demonstrate the contribution that electron microscopy can make in the study of an upper abdominal mass and illustrate some of the similarities that can be encountered among tumors of different organs.

Insulin and C-peptide co-localization in the beta granules of normal human pancreas and insulinomas. A quantitative immunocytochemical approach

It has been shown, by using the immunogold technique, that C-peptide and insulin are co-localized in the mature granules of human pancreatic beta cells and insulinomas with typical granules. The mean gold bead densities of both C-peptide and insulin were at least twice as high in the normal pancreas when compared with the insulinomas. The mean granule diameter of the insulinoma cells (D = 0.30 +/- 0.12 micron) was smaller than that of human pancreatic cells (D = 0.45 +/- 0.15 micron). The morphometric data indicate that each of the antigens (C-peptide and insulin) is distributed similarly in the halos and the dense cores of the beta granules. Thus, no topological segregation of these two antigens occurs within the beta granules of either normal human pancreas or insulinomas.