Studies on the nature and localization of acid phosphatase in normal and lens‐regenerating urodele eyes. I. Histochemical localization

Histochemical procedures for acid phosphatase in normal and lens‐regenerating eyes of the urodele Diemictylus viridescens demonstrate activity in a variety of structures. In the normal urodele eye, acid phosphatase is present in conjunctival and corneal epithelial cells and associated glands, in blood vessel endothelium and posterior epithelial cells of the iris, in the anterior lens epithelium, and in the cytoplasm of the optic nerve. Acid phosphatase in the lens‐regenerating eye is localized in the same structures as in the normal eye as well as in increased amounts in the corneal epithelial cells and stromal macrophages at the lentectomy wound site and in the posterior portion of the developing lens during completion of differentiation of primary into mature lens fibers characterized by loss of many intracellular organelles. On the basis of these histochemical findings, it is proposed that hydrolytic lysosomal enzymes play an important role in the processes of cellular and intracellular destruction and synthesis which occur during Wolffian lens regeneration in the urodele.