scholarly journals MEMBRANE-COATING GRANULES OF KERATINIZING EPITHELIA

1965 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gedeon Matoltsy ◽  
Paul F. Parakkal
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Cell Envelope ◽  
Cell Periphery ◽  
Cell Surfaces ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Cytoplasmic Granules ◽  
Coated Cell ◽  
Membrane Coating

The purpose of this study has been to obtain information on the development of the envelop of horny cells that resists the action of keratinolytic agents. Toward this end the epidermis, oral mucosa, and tongue epithelium of various vertebrates, as well as the isolated envelopes of horny cells, were examined by electron microscopy. It was found that small cytoplasmic granules (1,000 to 5,000 A) that develop within differentiating epithelial cells move toward the cell periphery, and after fusion with the plasma membrane, empty their contents into the intercellular spaces. The content of the granules spreads over the cell surfaces, and subsequently a thickened and coated cell envelope is formed that resists the action of keratinolytic agent. The membrane-coating granule is regarded as a specific differentiation product of the keratinizing epithelium. It contains numerous inner membranes and is assumed to engage in synthetic activities such as, perhaps, the formation of polysaccharides.

Electron microscopy of endocardial cell populations

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 486-487
Author(s):  
T. G. Sarphie ◽  
C. R. Comer ◽  
D. J. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cellular Transformation ◽  
Cell Populations ◽  
Cell Surfaces ◽  
Kb Cells ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Cell Cycles ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
Endocardial Cell

Previous ultrastructural studies have characterized surface morphology during norma cell cycles in an attempt to associate specific changes with specific metabolic processes occurring within the cell. It is now known that during the synthetic ("S") stage of the cycle, when DNA and other nuclear components are synthesized, a cel undergoes a doubling in volume that is accompanied by an increase in surface area whereby its plasma membrane is elaborated into a variety of processes originally referred to as microvilli. In addition, changes in the normal distribution of glycoproteins and polysaccharides derived from cell surfaces have been reported as depreciating after cellular transformation by RNA or DNA viruses and have been associated with the state of growth, irregardless of the rate of proliferation. More specifically, examination of the surface carbohydrate content of synchronous KB cells were shown to be markedly reduced as the cell population approached division Comparison of hamster kidney fibroblasts inhibited by vinblastin sulfate while in metaphase with those not in metaphase demonstrated an appreciable decrease in surface carbohydrate in the former.

Three-dimensional organization and functional relationships of endocytotic compartments in pig intestinal epithelial cells

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 576-577
Author(s):  
Julian P. Heath ◽  
Buford L. Nichols ◽  
László G. Kömüves
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Intestinal Epithelial Cells ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Intestinal Epithelial ◽  
Cell Surfaces ◽  
Basal Surface ◽  
Functional Relationships

The newborn pig intestine is adapted for the rapid and efficient absorption of nutrients from colostrum. In enterocytes, colostral proteins are taken up into an apical endocytotic complex of channels that transports them to target organelles or to the basal surface for release into the circulation. The apical endocytotic complex of tubules and vesicles clearly is a major intersection in the routes taken by vesicles trafficking to and from the Golgi, lysosomes, and the apical and basolateral cell surfaces.Jejunal tissues were taken from piglets suckled for up to 6 hours and prepared for electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry as previously described.

scholarly journals Initiation of Assembly of the Cell Envelope Barrier Structure of Stratified Squamous Epithelia

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4247-4261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Steinert ◽  
Lyuben N. Marekov
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Cell Envelope ◽  
Immunogold Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epidermal Keratinocytes ◽  
Cross Linking ◽  
Cell Periphery ◽  
Human Epidermal Keratinocytes ◽  
Squamous Epithelia ◽  
D Cells

The cell envelope (CE) is a specialized structure that is important for barrier function in terminally differentiated stratified squamous epithelia. The CE is formed inside the plasma membrane and becomes insoluble as a result of cross-linking of constituent proteins by isopeptide bonds formed by transglutaminases. To investigate the earliest stages of assembly of the CE, we have studied human epidermal keratinocytes induced to terminally differentiate in submerged liquid culture as a model system for epithelia in general. CEs were harvested from 2-, 3-, 5-, or 7-d cultured cells and examined by 1) immunogold electron microscopy using antibodies to known CE or other junctional proteins and 2) amino acid sequencing of cross-linked peptides derived by proteolysis of CEs. Our data document that CE assembly is initiated along the plasma membrane between desmosomes by head-to-tail and head-to-head cross-linking of involucrin to itself and to envoplakin and perhaps periplakin. Essentially only one lysine and two glutamine residues of involucrin and two glutamines of envoplakin were used initially. In CEs of 3-d cultured cells, involucrin, envoplakin, and small proline-rich proteins were physically located at desmosomes and had become cross-linked to desmoplakin, and in 5-d CEs, these three proteins had formed a continuous layer extending uniformly along the cell periphery. By this time >15 residues of involucrin were used for cross-linking. The CEs of 7-d cells contain significant amounts of the protein loricrin, typically expressed at a later stage of CE assembly. Together, these data stress the importance of juxtaposition of membranes, transglutaminases, and involucrin and envoplakin in the initiation of CE assembly of stratified squamous epithelia.

A Freeze-Etching Study on Experimental Murine Mastitis

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 638-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Smith ◽  
R. L. Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Potential Barrier ◽  
Mammary Glands ◽  
Pathological Changes ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Freeze Etching ◽  
Junctional Complexes ◽  
Acinar Lumen

Streptococcal mastitis was produced experimentally in mice inoculated by the intramammary route; freeze-etched preparations from the affected mammary glands were studied by electron microscopy. The inoculated cocci were seen free in the acinar lumen, within luminal phagocytes and within cells of the epithelium. No significant pathological changes were noted in the junctional complexes between secretory epithelial cells. The results were comparable to those obtained by ultrathin sectioning and indicated that, while cocci can transfer from the acinar lumen into the substance of the epithelium and towards a subepithelial location, the junctional complexes between epithelial cells present a potential barrier to movement through the intercellular spaces.

Analysis of contact-rehydration in terrestrial gastropods: absorption of 14C-inulin through the epithelium of the foot

1984 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-80
Author(s):  
D. J. Prior ◽  
G. L. Uglem
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Filter Paper ◽  
Bulk Flow ◽  
Paracellular Pathway ◽  
Drinking Behaviour ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Terrestrial Gastropods

Contact-rehydration in terrestrial slugs involves a specific drinking behaviour during which water is rapidly absorbed through the integument of the foot. When dehydrated slugs were placed on wet filter paper containing 14C-inulin, they displayed the characteristic drinking posture and absorbed both water and 14C-inulin. Samples of haemolymph from dehydrated slugs after 12 min of contact-rehydration contained about 6 micrograms of 14C-inulin 100 mg-1 of haemolymph (0.24 mmol l-1 14C-inulin in the substrate). The haemolymph of hydrated slugs however contained no detectable radioactivity after 12 min on the filter paper. Electron microscopy revealed that the intercellular spaces between the epithelial cells of the foot were reduced in dehydrated slugs, but were rapidly enlarged during contact-rehydration. It is concluded that contact-rehydration in terrestrial slugs is mediated by bulk flow of water through an epithelial paracellular pathway in the integument of the foot.

Development of intercellular junctions in the pulmonary epithelium of the foetal lamb

1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-324
Author(s):  
E.E. Schneeberger ◽  
D.V. Walters ◽  
R.E. Olver
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Tight Junctions ◽  
Lung Development ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Intercellular Junctions ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Epithelial Tight Junctions ◽  
Foetal Lamb

The integrity of epithelial tight junctions in foetal mammalian lungs is essential to maintain the unique ionic composition of lung liquid, and to prevent leakage of serum proteins into peripheral air spaces. In the present study the development of intercellular junctions of the lining epithelium of foetal lamb lungs during gestation was examined by light and electron microscopy. Both thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas were examined by electron microscopy. By 39 days of gestation, epithelial tight junctions consist of a minimum of 3.1 +/− 1.6 (s.D.) and a maximum of 5.8 +/− 2.0 discontinuous rows of particles and short segments of strands on P face ridges and in complementary E face grooves, while from 58 to 76 days they are composed of a network of 4.3 +/− 1.6 to 7.7 +/− 1.9 focally interrupted P face strands. Complementary replicas show that many of the discontinuities on the P face are due to separation of junctional particles on to the E face during fracturing, and not to an absence of junctional particles. From 76 days to term, epithelial tight junctions (exclusive of upper airway epithelium which was not examined) resemble those of adult lungs, and consist of a continuous network of 4.5 +/− 2.0 to 7.5 +/− 2.5 P face strands and complementary particle-free grooves. Permeability measurements, published elsewhere, indicate that the epithelium is functionally ‘tight’ from 69 days onwards. Tight junctions in peripheral air-space epithelium, therefore, are structurally continuous and functionally ‘tight’ early in foetal lung development, and form seals at one end of long, narrow intercellular spaces; these features may be important for coupled ion and water transport. When the bounding epithelial cells become flattened, these narrow intercellular spaces remain intact as a result of complex interdigitations of adjacent cell membranes. Desmosomes were present throughout gestation near the abluminal side of the tight junctions and occasionally near the base of the intercellular space. These junctions may serve to connect cells to each other at a time when tight junctions may be mechanically weak. In addition, gap junctions are associated with tight junctions from the glandular through the canalicular stages of lung development. They disappear by 120 days when the epithelial cells are differentiated.

scholarly journals Intercellular Attachment in the Epithelium of Hydra As Revealed by Electron Microscopy

1959 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Intercellular Space ◽  
Epoxy Resins ◽  
Phosphotungstic Acid ◽  
Internal Environment ◽  
Prominent Feature ◽  
Cell Surfaces ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Two Peaks ◽  
Plasma Unit

In Hydra adjacent epithelial cells are bound firmly to each other by desmosomes of a type not described in detail hitherto. The most prominent feature of these desmosomes is the presence of a series of parallel lamellae which bridge the intercellular space and connect the two apposed cell surfaces directly. These structures, here termed intercellular attachment lamellae, display two peaks of density about 50 A apart. These dense lines appear in some instances to be continuous with the outer dense components of the plasma unit membranes of the attached cells. The presence of prominent lamellae in intercellular attachments is sufficiently distinctive to deserve special terminology; accordingly, the term septate desmosome is proposed. It is noted that septate desmosomes may have been seen in other animals in instances where published electron micrographs show cross-striations or prominent connections in regions of intercellular attachment. It is suggested that septate desmosomes in Hydra, in addition to binding cells firmly to each other, form barriers to the movement of water into intercellular spaces and thus help to protect the organism's internal environment. Observations on the use of phosphotungstic acid for improving contrast in materials embedded in epoxy resins are also recorded.

scholarly journals ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF ABSORPTION OF TRACER MATERIALS BY TOAD URINARY BLADDER EPITHELIUM

1965 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Kwon Choi
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Urinary Bladder ◽  
Colloidal Particles ◽  
Intermediate Stage ◽  
Toad Urinary Bladder ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Bladder Epithelium ◽  
Physiological Factors ◽  
Tracer Particles

The absorption of Thorotrast and saccharated iron oxide by the epithelium of the toad urinary bladder was studied by electron microscopy. Whether the toads were hydrated, dehydrated, or given Pitressin, no significant differences in transport of colloidal particles by epithelial cells were observed. This implies that these physiological factors had little effect on the transport of the tracer particles. Tracer particles were encountered in three types of epithelial cells which line the bladder lumen, but most frequently in the mitochondria-rich cells. Tracer materials were incorporated into the cytoplasm of epithelial cells after being adsorbed to the coating layer covering the luminal surface of the cells. In the intermediate stage (1 to 3 hours after introducing tracer) particles were present in small vesicles, tubules, and multivesicular bodies. In the later stages (up to 65 hours), the particles were more commonly seen to be densely packed within large membrane-bounded bodies which were often found near the Golgi region. These large bodies probably were formed by the fusion of small vesicles. Irrespective of the stages of absorption, no particles were found in the intercellular spaces or in the submucosa. Particles apparently did not penetrate the intercellular spaces of the epithelium beyond the level of the tight junction.

scholarly journals Native Cell Wall Organization Shown by Cryo-Electron Microscopy Confirms the Existence of a Periplasmic Space in Staphylococcus aureus

2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 1011-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valério R. F. Matias ◽  
Terry J. Beveridge
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cell Envelope ◽  
High Density ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Periplasmic Space ◽  
Wall Zone ◽  
Cell Envelopes

ABSTRACT The current perception of the ultrastructure of gram-positive cell envelopes relies mainly on electron microscopy of thin sections and on sample preparation. Freezing of cells into a matrix of amorphous ice (i.e., vitrification) results in optimal specimen preservation and allows the observation of cell envelope boundary layers in their (frozen) hydrated state. In this report, cryo-transmission electron microscopy of frozen-hydrated sections of Staphylococcus aureus D2C was used to examine cell envelope organization. A bipartite wall was positioned above the plasma membrane and consisted of a 16-nm low-density inner wall zone (IWZ), followed by a 19-nm high-density outer wall zone (OWZ). Observation of plasmolyzed cells, which were used to artificially separate the membrane from the wall, showed membrane vesicles within the space associated with the IWZ in native cells and a large gap between the membrane and OWZ, suggesting that the IWZ was devoid of a cross-linked polymeric cell wall network. Isolated wall fragments possessed only one zone of high density, with a constant level of density throughout their thickness, as was previously seen with the OWZs of intact cells. These results strongly indicate that the IWZ represents a periplasmic space, composed mostly of soluble low-density constituents confined between the plasma membrane and OWZ, and that the OWZ represents the peptidoglycan-teichoic acid cell wall network with its associated proteins. Cell wall differentiation was also seen at the septum of dividing cells. Here, two high-density zones were sandwiched between three low-density zones. It appeared that the septum consisted of an extension of the IWZ and OWZ from the outside peripheral wall, plus a low-density middle zone that separated adjacent septal cross walls, which could contribute to cell separation during division.

scholarly journals Dynamics of membrane-skeleton (fodrin) organization during development of polarity in Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells.

1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (5) ◽  
pp. 1751-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
W J Nelson ◽  
P J Veshnock
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Mdck Cells ◽  
Membrane Skeleton ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Cell Periphery ◽  
Madin Darby Canine Kidney ◽  
Basolateral Plasma Membrane ◽  
Darby Canine Kidney ◽  
Canine Kidney

Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells exhibit a polarized distribution of membrane proteins between the apical and basolateral domains of the plasma membrane. We have initiated studies to investigate whether the spectrin-based membrane skeleton plays a role in the establishment and maintenance of these membrane domains. MDCK cells express an isoform of spectrin composed of two subunits, Mr 240,000 (alpha-subunit) and Mr 235,000 (gamma-subunit). This isoform is immunologically and structurally related to fodrin in lens and brain cells, which is a functional and structural analog of alpha beta-spectrin, the major component of the erythrocyte membrane skeleton. Analysis of fodrin in MDCK cells by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and metabolic labeling revealed significant changes in the biophysical properties, subcellular distribution, steady-state levels, and turnover of the protein during development of a continuous monolayer of cells. The changes in the cellular organization of fodrin did not appear to coincide with the distributions of microfilaments, microtubules, or intermediate filaments. These changes result in the formation of a highly insoluble, relatively dense and stable layer of fodrin which appears to be localized to the cell periphery and predominantly in the region of the basolateral plasma membrane of MDCK cells in continuous monolayers. The formation of this structure coincides temporally and spatially with extensive cell-cell contact, and with the development of the polarized distribution of the Na+, K+-ATPase, a marker protein of the basolateral plasma membrane.

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