ABSTRACT
Identification of elastic fibers at the ultrastructural level is accomplished by a post-embedding immunohistochemical technique using the protein A-colloidal gold method. Antisera against elastins from human dermis and rat aorta have been characterized by radioimmunoassay and then applied to thin sections of rat blood vessels. Two fixative solutions and two embedding media have been tested. Both antibodies bind to elastic fibers of normal arteries and veins, indicating crossreactions among organs and species. The high sensitivity of this method is demonstrated by its application to the detection of neo-elastogenesis in the intimal thickening of aortic grafts.
Subject(s)
Blood Vessels/ultrastructure , Elastic Tissue/analysis , Gold , Staphylococcal Protein A , Animals , Antibody Specificity , Aorta/transplantation , Cross Reactions , Elastin/immunology , Guinea Pigs , Histocytochemistry , Humans , Immunochemistry , Microscopy, Electron , Radioimmunoassay , RatsABSTRACT
Synopsis Collagen being the main structural protein of the skin, the influence of a face cream containing this molecule was studied in the dermis using differential scanning calorimetry. This method, using samples of rat dermis, gives curves from which the denaturation temperature and enthalpy change of the collagen fibre network can be followed. The present study was made using two groups of rats which were treated by the cream (or placebo) during 4 months (5 days a week), and were aged 5 and 9 months at.