Histochemical and ultrastructural characterization of serotonin-containing cells in rabbit tracheal epithelium.

Tracheal endocrine cells (TECs) that contain serotonin have been characterized previously by staining with ferric ferricyanide. In the present article, the ferric ferricyanide staining reaction has been used to locate the TECs in deplasticized thick sections of Epon-embedded rabbit tracheas. Adjacent thin sections of the same cell were subsequently observed by electron microscopy. The TECs were filled with dense-core vesicles (DCVs) located in the cytoplasm between the nucleus and the lumen and also lateral to the nucleus. In a separate experiment, pieces of rabbit trachea were treated with a solution of glutaraldehyde-dichromate to demonstrate the presence of amines. High levels of chromium were detected in the DCVs by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The results from these studies have correlated the ultrastructure of a serotonin-containing endocrine cell present in rabbit tracheal epithelium with a cell type previously characterized only by light and fluorescence histochemical methods. The results also indicate that serotonin in these cells is stored in the DCVs.