Fig. 1.
Histochemical staining properties of different populations of mast cells in vitro. Cytocentrifuge preparations of BMCMC grown in 20% Concanavalin A stimulated spleen conditioned medium (BMCMC in CM, [A]) or BMCMC grown in 50 ng/mL of SCF (BMCMC in SCF, [B]) were stained with alcian blue and safranin O. Photomicrographs were taken at 400× magnification. White arrow denotes alcian blue positive (safranin negative) mast cell, black arrow denotes safranin positive mast cell (alcian blue negative), and black arrowhead denotes mast cells with mixed alcian blue and safranin positive granules. The growth factor independent cloned mast cell line, Cl.MC/C57.1 exhibited similar staining characteristics as BMCMC in CM (data not shown).