Histochemical localization of Mg2+-Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphatase in different stages of the sheep mesonephros.

Mesonephroi of sheep embryos ranging from 12 to 100 mm C.R. length were examined for the occurrence and localization of transport-ATPase. Native cryostat sections were incubated according to the technique of Guth and Albers for demonstrating the nitrophenylphosphatase activity of Mg2+-Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphatase. The basal cytoplasm of the collecting tubule of the narrow segment of the distal tubule exhibit strong activity, the wide segment of the distal tubule is moderately active. Glomeruli, proximal tubule, and Wolffian duct remain unstained. The basal labyrinths of the reactive nephron segments are believed to be the sites of a Na+-K+ exchange pump. In mature and regressing mesonephroi, the findings fully agree with biochemical data; in maturating mesonephroi, whose basal labyrinth is not yet fully established, the biochemical assay proves to be more sensitive. The specifity of the reaction was ascertained by diverse inhibitors and activating ions. The localization of Mg2+-ATPase is different to the above mentioned reaction pattern, as it shows moderate activity in the proximal tubule, too (mature mesonephros). Mesonephroi of very young embryos exhibit strongest Mg2+-ATPase activity in the proximal tubule; here the distal and collecting tubule stain only moderately.