Alterations in the cellular morphology of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and lymphocytes under the influence of serum from patients having disseminated lupus erythematosus were observed under the phase contrast microscope. These changes appear to involve the cell nucleus without significant visible incorporation of cytoplasm. In the formation of the L.E. body, there is a loss of internal nuclear structure and a subsequent nuclear swelling and extrusion of the nuclear contents from the cell to form the free L.E. body. The possible incorporation of cytoplasmic substance cannot alone account for the large mass of the L.E. body as contrasted with the parent nucleus or nuclear lobe. Measurements of dry mass by means of the interference microscope show a two and one-half-fold increment in dry mass in L.E. bodies compared to parent lymphocyte nuclei. This confirms previous cytochemical studies, and establishes that an influx of protein into the leukocyte nucleus is an integral part of the L.E. phenomenon. That the accumulation of extraneous protein within the L.E. body is simultaneous with or subsequent to a disruption of the normal structure of the leukocyte nucleus is apparent from these studies, but the pathogenesis of this alteration is as yet unknown.
Article|
October 01 1957
PHASE CONTRAST AND INTERFEROMETRIC MICROSCOPY OF THE L.E. CELL PHENOMENON
Richard A. Rifkind,
Richard A. Rifkind
From the Departments of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (Histochemistry Research Laboratory), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Edward Daniels Faulkner Arthritis Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital, New York
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Gabriel C. Godman
Gabriel C. Godman
From the Departments of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (Histochemistry Research Laboratory), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Edward Daniels Faulkner Arthritis Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital, New York
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Richard A. Rifkind
From the Departments of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (Histochemistry Research Laboratory), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Edward Daniels Faulkner Arthritis Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital, New York
Gabriel C. Godman
From the Departments of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery (Histochemistry Research Laboratory), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Edward Daniels Faulkner Arthritis Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital, New York
Received:
May 17 1957
Online ISSN: 1540-9538
Print ISSN: 0022-1007
Copyright, 1957, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research New York
1957
J Exp Med (1957) 106 (4): 607–616.
Article history
Received:
May 17 1957
Citation
Richard A. Rifkind, Gabriel C. Godman; PHASE CONTRAST AND INTERFEROMETRIC MICROSCOPY OF THE L.E. CELL PHENOMENON . J Exp Med 1 October 1957; 106 (4): 607–616. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.106.4.607
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