A fast screening method for histochemical localization of carbonic anhydrase. Application to kidney, skeletal muscle, and thrombocytes.

A simple method for histochemical localization of carbonic anhydrase using 5-dimethyl-amino-naphthalene-1-sulfonamide (DNSA) is described. Cryosections of tissues, or cell smears, are incubated in 3 to 10 X 10(-5) M DNSA and viewed in a fluorescence microscope. Upon excitation with ultraviolet light, sites of carbonic anhydrase localization can be identified by an intense blue fluorescence, which is due to the emission of blue light (lambda max = 470 nm) by carbonic anhydrase-DNSA complexes. This fluorescence can be largely suppressed by simultaneous incubation with 1 X 10(-4) to 2 X 10(-3) M concentrations of nonfluorescent carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, displacing DNSA from its binding site on the enzyme. Application of the method to kidney, skeletal muscle, and thrombocytes yields patterns of carbonic anhydrase localization that are in good agreement with results that have been obtained with a variety of other techniques.