In 2008 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Histochemistry and Cell Biology
.
Histochemistry, defined as “structure related functional analysis of living matter”
may appear at the first glance to be a young branch of biomedicine derived mainly
from “classical histology”. But careful reviews of the history of this field indicate
that it dates back to the early part of the 19th century––in particular to the French
botanist and microscopist Francois-Vincent Raspail (1794–1878; for a review see A.G.E.
Pearse “Histochemistry, Theoretical and Applied”, Vol. 1, 1980). It took almost a
century and many devoted investigators until the principles of this scientific methodology,
enabling functional analysis of cell and tissue structure by rendering molecules and
molecular processes accessible to microscopic detection, became generally accepted.
The results and the observations of the first 100 years were summarized and published
in 1930s by Lison in France (Histochimie Animale, 1936) and Romeis in Germany (Histochemische
Methoden, 1932), paving the way for application of histochemical techniques in biology
and medicine. A good decade later, there appeared then by now classical texts by Glick
(Techniques of Histo- and Cytochemistry, 1949), Gomori (Microscopic Histochemistry,
1952) and Pearse (Histochemistry, Theoretical and Applied, 1953). Nevertheless, in
the early 1950s there were still no appropriate journals for publication of the many
reports based on histochemical observations. This vacuum was rapidly realized and
indeed within one decade, worldwide, numerous new journals were founded providing
a forum for the publication of histochemical and cytochemical studies. To name just
a few important examples with the dates of first appearance: Journal of Histochemistry
and Cytochemistry (1953), Journal of Biophysical and Biochemical Cytology (which later
changed to Journal of Cell Biology, 1955), Acta Histochemica (1954), Annales d’Histochimie
(1956).
Exactly 50 years ago, in 1958, an international group of scientists founded the journal
that later became Histochemistry and Cell Biology. The new journal initially carried
the title “Abteilung Histochemie” (Histochemistry Division) of the “Zeitschrift für
Zellforschung und mikroskopische Anatomie” and was first edited by M. Chèvremont,
Liège; H.W. Deane, New York; P.B. Diezel, F. Duspiva and H. Reznik, Heidelberg; O.
Eränkö, Helsinki; P. Gedigk and N. Schümmelfelder, Bonn; W. Gössner, Tübingen; W.
Graumann, Göttingen; A.G.E. Pearse, London; W. Sandritter, Frankfurt/Main; T.H. Schiebler,
Kiel; G. Siebert, Mainz; and M. Wolman, Tel-Hashomer. Retrospectively, the list of
the international editors represented a list of who is who in histochemistry at that
time.
Remarkable from the first issue on, as intended by the founders of The Journal, was
the quality and quantity of the photographic reproductions, guaranteed by the printing
press, the Universitätsdruckerei Stürtz in Würzburg, Germany. Besides high-quality
black and white photomicrographs, superb color figures illustrated the results of
the different techniques, and were invaluable for scientists who applied the published
methods to validate their results. From the beginning, in German, English, French
and Italian language written contributions reported advances in histochemical methodology,
most with general applicability. Subsequently, both general technical reports and
applications of novel histochemical methods to investigations of specific tissues,
cells, or subcellular structures, were topics of the contributions. With volume 4
(1964/1965), The Journal became independent and was named “Histochemie/Histochemistry/Histochimie”.
The internationality of the histochemical scientific community and of The Journal
was reflected not only in that the title was trilingual but also in that the published
articles were still written in different European languages. Accordingly, the authors
came not only from different European countries, but also from the United States of
America, and particularly from Japan. Thus, even this early in its existence, the
journal enjoyed international recognition, and, presumably, had an impact on scientific
communities around the world.
Since English became the predominant language in which the articles were published,
with volume 38 (1974) the title of The Journal was changed to Histochemistry. Further
eminent scientists from Europe, the United States of America and Japan joined the
Editorial Board over time. In 1984, T.H. Schiebler, founding editorial board member
of the journal and then head of the Anatomical Institute in Würzburg, Germany, became
managing editor, first together with H.A. Padykula, Worcester, USA, and later, from
1987 on, sole managing editor. Board members in those years were R.R. Cowden, Johnson
City, P. van Duijn, Leiden, O. Eränkö, Helsinki, P. Gedigk, Bonn, R. Gossrau, Berlin,
W. Graumann, Tübingen, L.-I. Larsson, Copenhagen, Z. Lojda, Prague, B. Maurer-Schultze,
Würzburg, A.E.F.H. Meijer, Amsterdam. K. Ogawa, Kyoto, W.K. Paull, Columbia, A.G.E.
Pearse, London, D. Pette, Konstanz, M. van der Ploog, Leiden, H. Puchtler, Augusta,
J. Roth, Basel, Y. Sano, Kyoto, L.A. Sternberger, Rochester, and W. Straus, North
Chicago.
Throughout the years, the main objective of the journal’s editors was the propagation
of innovative advances and ingenious approaches in histochemical technologies, and
their application to important questions in a wide variety of scientific fields ranging
from embryology to neurobiology. This goal was reflected in numerous articles on,
at the time, revolutionary new methods combining histochemistry and biochemistry or
molecular biology, like immunocytochemistry for light and electron microscopy, in
situ hybridization, or new live cell-imaging microscopical methods. Valued very highly
by both authors and readers was the never wavering superior quality of the photographic
reproductions, a benchmark which has been maintained over the years until today.
In 1992, Detlev Drenckhahn, Würzburg and Jürgen Roth, Zurich, became jointly Editors-in-Chief.
They restructured the international Editorial Board, expanding the scope of the published
manuscripts to take the many new perspectives of the modern cell biological research
into account. This was followed in 1995 by a change in the title of The Journal to
Histochemistry and Cell Biology to reflect the important role of cellular and molecular
research in modern life sciences. Thus, over 50 years, the journal has maintained
a consistent editorial policy of publishing new molecular methods and the results
of application of those techniques to biological material, living cells and organisms,
while remaining always open to novel ideas and hypothesis. Considering that the entire
field of histochemistry is only about two hundred-years-old, 50 years is a considerable
period of time and indeed The Journal during this time has matured into a highly reputed
medium for reporting not only important observations in histochemistry and cytochemistry
but also in modern cell biology and pathology using the most advanced tools and techniques.
One of the main objectives of Histochemistry and Cell Biology over the years has been
the reporting of original research findings from the laboratory bench documenting
the important role of cellular and molecular research in modern life sciences. But
with the time as such primary information accumulates, the necessity arises to provide
connecting bridges between the many disconnected facts of the original reports in
order to give an overview of the essential principles of the function of cellular
components. This task is best achieved by state-of-the-art reviews provided by experts
in the field. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Histochemistry and Cell Biology
intends to celebrate this event by publishing in the forthcoming issues of the year
2008 a series of review papers on important aspects of modern cell biology including
the many state-of-the-art technologies as practiced in expert laboratories. We have
invited many well-known specialists from various fields of cell biology and pathology
to summarize the presently available knowledge in their areas of expertise and we
are very grateful that so many excellent scientists have consented to honour the 50th
anniversary of the journal by preparing reviews of their respective fields covering
major areas of modern cell and tissue biology.
The series of reviews start off with the present issue dealing with Cell Nucleus,
followed by ER and Golgi Apparatus in February and Exocytosis and Endocytosis in March.
In April Lysosomes, Autophagy and Peroxisomes are subjects of reviews and in May Cell
Communication and Signalling Cascades are treated. The Cytoskeleton is reviewed in
June and Cell Junctions in July. For the August issue reviews related to Functional
Tissue Organization are planned. In September the state-of-the-art techniques in Pathology
Research Laboratory, for October those in Neurobiology and for November the Advances
of Imaging Techniques are reviewed. Finally, Cell Migration and Metastasis are the
subjects of reviews for the December issue. We express our gratitude to the authors
and hope that our readers enjoy and benefit from the forthcoming reviews.
Jürgen Roth, H. Dariush Fahimi and Detlev Drenckhahn