Localisation of intracellular calcium in the neutrophil through the selective precipitation with the antimonate ion

Abstract

The antimonate ion was used for the first time in 1962 by Komnick for the precipitation of intracellular sodium ions. The antimonate ion can, however, also precipitate other cations and can be employed in subcellular calcium localisation studies. The greatest difficulty encountered with such subcellular calcium localisation studies is the selectivity of the antimonate ion for calcium in the presence of the other intracellular cations. Various x-ray analyses and chelation studies have shown that the antimonate precipitation reaction can be specific for calcium under appropriate conditions. A transmission electron microscopy method for the selective localisation of intracellular calcium in the neutrophil with the antimonate ion is discussed. It is indicated that the antimonate ion can specifically precipitate calcium in the presence of the other intracellular cations.