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Deposits of granular material in mitochondria

Electron microscopic observations in neoplastic cells of a malignant melanoma of the human uveal tract

Ablagerung granulären Materials in Mitochondrien

Elektronenmikroskopische Beobachtungen an Zellen eines malignen Melanomes der menschlichen Uvea

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Virchows Archiv B

Summary

It has been shown inin vitro experiments that isolated mitochondria are able to absorb large amounts of calcium in addition to other divalent cations if ATP has been added to the culture medium (Engström and De Luca, 1964). This absorption is accompanied by ultrastructural changes in the form of electron dense granules in the matrix of the mitochondria, much larger and more numerous than the granules usually observed in mitochondria (Greenawaltet al, 1964; Peachey, 1964; Reynolds, 1965). In addition, electron microscopic studies have disclosed similar intramitochondrial granules in osteoclasts (Gonzales, 1961), in the epithelium of the renal tubules after administration of parathyroid hormone (Gaulfield, 1964), and in liver cells after poisoning by carbon tetrachloride (Reynolds, 1965). In the latter cells an increased calcium content was also demonstrable in the mitochondrial fraction after ultracentrifugation. The object of the present paper is to describe in neoplastic cells the presence of intramitochondrial granules that are indistinguishable morphologically from those found by the above workers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anatomy Department B, University of Copenhagen Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark

    J. Egeberg & O. A. Jensen

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  1. J. Egeberg
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  2. O. A. Jensen
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Egeberg, J., Jensen, O.A. Deposits of granular material in mitochondria. Virchows Arch. Abt. B Zellpath. 5, 101–104 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893554

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893554

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