[Paracrystallic, intraplasmatic inclusion bodies in human hepatocytes: a structural analytic study (author's transl)].

Electron micrographs from intraplasmatic inclusion bodies of human hepatocytes are described; these paracrystallic aggregations consist of helically arranged filaments. All the observed periodic structures within these bodies can be indicated as originating from the same compound by the use of the Frauenhofer diffraction pattern. Concerning the genesis of these characteristically structured bodies two possibilities are discussed: 1. A special polymeric form of fibrinogen and fibrin built up in vivo. 2. Polymerization of a monomeric enzyme, for example, glutamate dehydrogenase, to paracrystallic bodies by fixation-dependent cross-linkages.