Ultrastructural localization of acid phosphatase activity in the kidney sac nephrocytes of helix aspersa

Abstract

Ultracytochemical analysis of acid phosphatase in the nephrocytes of Helix aspersa renal sac was carried out using beta-glycerophosphate as the substrate of reaction. The reaction product was localized on dictyosomes, lysosomes, apical and lateral plasma membranes and, occasionally, in dense digestive bodies. In the latter, the lack of reaction or the weakness of it is discussed. Reaction product was affected by sodium fluoride, except in apical and the most lateral membranes. This fact could be interpreted as the result of phosphatase activity at these sites being different from that of lysosomal acid phosphatase.