Multivariate Statistical Analysis Applied to X-Ray Spectra and X-Ray Mapping of Liver Cell Nuclei

Authors

Carmen Quintana, INSERM
Noël Bonnet, Université de Reims

Abstract

Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Factorial Analysis of Correspondence (FAC), two Multivariate Statistical Analyses (MSA), were applied to the analysis of X-ray data. MSA are descriptive methods which graphically display the correlations and anticorrelations between a large number of elements. Series of X-ray spectral data and X-ray maps obtained from rat liver were analyzed with reference to the diffusible elements Na, Mg, Cl, K and Ca and also P and S.

By using an in situ precipitation method, the pyroantimonate method, it was found that the free, precipitable cations Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺ are, in the nuclei, mainly distributed throughout the nucleoplasm. Images obtained from FAC allow those areas rich in nucleic acids to be displayed as areas with a strong anticorrelation between P and Sb.

In cryoprocessed tissues, the evaluated wet mass-fraction of diffusible elements corresponds to physiological values of total amounts (free and complexed). PCA makes it possible to graphically display the correlation between P and K in chromatin and nucleolus, the correlation between K, Cl and S in cytoplasm and nucleoplasm and the observation of two populations of nuclei according to different Na, Mg and K concentrations. Factorial images obtained from FAC allow those areas rich in nucleic acids to be displayed as areas with a strong correlation between P and K. Similarly those areas rich in proteins are displayed as areas with a strong correlation between S and K.

Recommended Citation

Quintana, Carmen and Bonnet, Noël (1994) "Multivariate Statistical Analysis Applied to X-Ray Spectra and X-Ray Mapping of Liver Cell Nuclei," Scanning Microscopy: Vol. 8: No. 3, Article 15.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/microscopy/vol8/iss3/15