Electron microscopic localization of lactate dehydrogenase in osteoclasts of chick embryo tibia

Synopsis Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was localized in osteoclasts of fixed and unfixed 19-day chick embryo tibias using a copper ferrocyanide capture reaction and osmiophilic polymer generation. This study revealed that: (1) LDH activity in fixed, briefly rinsed osteoclasts was associated principally with limiting membranes of cytoplasmic vacuoles and vesicles and with the plasma membrane; (2) LDH activity in unfixed osteoclasts was associated only with mitochondria; and (3) some mitochondria were stained in fixed tissue given a long rinse. These results indicate that: cytoplasmic LDH diffused out of unfixed tissue; mitochondrial LDH was inactivated by formaldehyde in fixed tissue; and formaldehyde-inhibited mitochondrial LDH can be reactivated by a long rinse. Although the vesicles that stained for LDH activity were found in all parts of the cell, they were concentrated near the ruffled border, and there is evidence that they contained material from the bone surface. These results suggest that the LDH associated with cytoplasmic vesicles of the osteoclast may be important in processing of material resorbed from the bone surface and that osteoclastic mitochondria may utilize lactate from the bone fluid for energy production.