Use of lead aspartate block staining in quantitative EM autoradiography of phospholipids: application to myelinating peripheral nerve

For quantitation of electron microscope (EM) autoradiographs, micrographs must contain clear images which are relatively free of heavy metal precipitates. Satisfactory contrast is usually obtained by staining individual ultra-thin sections with lead citrate. It was recently reported that sequential block staining of tissue with ferrocyanide-reduced osmium tetroxide and lead aspartate produced excellent contrast for EM autoradiography, with sections relatively free of lead precipitate. This protocol avoids the manipulation involved in staining individual ultra-thin sections. We have adapted this method to quantitative EM autoradiographic studies, primarily of phospholipid metabolism in peripheral nerve. We show that block staining with lead aspartate provides: (a) ultrastructural contrast of routinely high quality for myelinated peripheral nerve; (b) high (greater than 98%) retention of glycero-labeled lipid during dehydration and embedment; and (c) a distribution of de novo tritiated glycerol-labeled lipid in ultra-thin sections that is quantitatively identical to the distribution recorded for samples stained by the more laborious post-embedment method. During a 2-hr labeling period in vivo, tritiated glycerol is incorporated into phosphatidylcholine (44%), phosphatidylethanolamine (22%), other phospholipids (16%), and neutral lipids (15%). The analysis of grain distribution in developing sciatic nerve labeled for 2 hr with tritiated glycerol demonstrates that myelinating Schwann cells play the major role in synthesis of endoneurial lipids. Lipid synthesis in myelinated fibers is localized in perinuclear regions of Schwann cell cytoplasm. These regions lie external to compact myelin. Unmyelinated fibers and other endoneurial cells independently incorporate glycerol into lipids.