[The study of chromatin and chromosome structure on preparations of interphase nucleus derivatives resulting from nuclear wall removal.III Structural heterogeneity of chromatin and argyrophilic zone of the nucleolus in stretched membrane-free nuclei and chromatin bodies from human peripheral lymphocytes].

Viewed by light microscopy, the majority of lymphocytes in smears of human peripheral blood display a deep staining (with any chromatin- or DNA-specific dye) of the nucleus consisting of densely aggregated chromatin in addition to one or several small nucleoli with a dot- or spot-like argyrophilic zone. Amembraneous nuclei and "free chromatin" structures were isolated from intact lymphocytes gently treated with Triton X-100. Surface stretching of both these nuclei and structures, shortly fixed in methanol--glacial acetic acid (3:1), resulted in spatial separation of thin and thick chromatin or argyrophilic fibres, nucleoli, intranuclear bodies, polymorphous aggregations of chromatin or argyrophilic fibres and incidentally observed splitted or beaded thick chromatin fibres and the chromocenter. The light microscopic pattern of chromatin fibres of stretched amembraneous nuclei, isolated from peripheral lymphocytes, well compares with that of deconvolved images of intact lymphocyte nucleus obtained with optical tomography.