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The Eosinophil: Structure and Biochemical Composition^*

The eosinophil was first discovered in 1846 and ever since it has been an object of curiosity and fascination to investigators. The literature on eosinophils is vast; Schwarz's review done in 1913 contains 1,200 references. Nonetheless knowledge of the structure and of the chemical composition of the cell has continued to grow and in the past decade a series of studies have disclosed new information. In this review certain of the more recent reports dealing with the structure and biochemistry of the eosinophil will be discussed.

Cytoplasmic organelles of eosinophils The distinguishing feature of the eosinophil under the light microscope is the dense eosinophilic granulation which may completely fill the cytoplasm. When viewed under the electron microscope the eosinophil granule, as shown in Figure 1, is seen as a membrane bounded cytoplasmic organelle with a distinctive internal structure. In most cases, the eosinophil granule has an electron dense core and a less dense matrix.

^* Supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, AI-9728 and AI-11483, and from the Mayo Foundation.