Ultrastructural localisation of carbonic anhydrase in rat stomach parietal cells

Summary Carbonic anhydrase (CA) was shown in rat gastric parietal cells using the optical and electron microscopes. CA activity resulted in an electron-dense precipitate of cobalt sulphide following incubation on Häusler's medium (Häusler, 1958). The cobalt sulphide deposit was found on the outer surface of the microvilli lining the canaliculi of the parietal cell. No such localisation was found after incubation with acetazolamide, a specific inhibitor of CA activity.