Z. Zizka et R. Pelc, QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CELL-DAMAGE IN-SITU - ELECTRON-MICROPROBE X-RAY-ANALYSIS OF MODEL ORGANISMS TREATED WITH NOXIOUS SPECIES, Folia microbiologica, 42(5), 1997, pp. 530-532
The existing set of methods for assessing toxicity of noxas, based on
experiments with whole animals (subclinical toxicity, toxicokinetics,
carcinogenity, teratogenity, neurotoxicology etc.) does not provide mu
ch information about cellular and subcellular effects such compounds m
ay exert. We suggest to complement the current methodology by combinin
g a traditional morphological observation in an electron microscope wi
th a spectroscopic method of electron microprobe X-ray analysis (or X-
ray microanalysis). The latter makes it possible to measure concentrat
ions of chemical elements in invidividual cells and organelles and eff
ects of noxas can thus be assessed (i) at subcellular level, (ii) dire
ctly in situ and (iii) quantitatively. Concentrations of biologically
important elements such as phosphorus, sulfur or zinc were measured in
individual organelles in both intact and nora-treated tissues, thus o
ffering a possibility of comparing the effects of various noxious spec
ies at subcellular level (with the nora previously applied to whole ti
ssue or animal). The suggested correlation of analytical and morpholog
ical information may also provide new insights into cellular targeting
of noxas (and potentially also drugs) as some organelles appear to be
much more susceptible to damage than others.