ARTICLE

The Histochemical Localization of Triphosphopyridine Nucleotide Diaphorase

Marvin M. Nachlas M.D.¹, Donald G. Walker Ph.D.¹, and Arnold M. Seligman M.D.¹

¹ From the Departments of Surgery, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore

A histochemical method is described for the localization of triphosphopyridine nucleotide diaphorase using a recently synthesized tetrazolium salt (Nitro-BT). By virtue of the favorable histochemical properties of this reagent, it has been possible to demonstrate that whereas DPN diaphorase is usually restricted to the mitochondria, the TPN diaphorase activity of corresponding cells was distributed throughout the cytoplasm in granules too fine to be considered mitochondria. Furthermore, although the diaphorase alone is responsible for the passage of electrons from TPNH to the tetrazole, it has been found that sites of activity of different TPN-linked dehydrogenases can be visualized in tissue sections, and characteristic loci for each enzyme may be observed. For example, whereas TPN diaphorase and isocitric dehydrogenase have an extensive distribution in the kidney cortex, 6-phosphogluconic dehydrogenase is limited to the cells of the macula densa.

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