Glycogen in the Dividing Cells of the Liver of the Chicken Embryo

Abstract

VON GROPP¹ has investigated the distribution of glycogen in hepatic cells of the rat after the administration of the carcinogen butter yellow (p-dimethyl-aminoazobenzol). Using Best's carmine technique and the periodic acid–Schiff sequence, he concluded that the amount of glycogen in dividing cells was considerably less than in non-dividing cells. It was further found that when individual dividing cells were examined glycogen was found in 84 of 200 cells (42 per cent), whereas it was present in nearly all the non-dividing cells. The same difference in the glycogen content of dividing and non-dividing cells has been recorded in a transplantable tumour of the rat liver by Strong and Smith². This note records the results of equivalent investigations on the liver of the chicken embryo.