scholarly journals A DISTINCTIVE CELL CONTACT IN THE RAT ADRENAL CORTEX

1972 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Friend ◽  
Norton B. Gilula
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Adrenal Cortex ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Typical Feature ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Cell Dispersion ◽  
Extensive Cell ◽  
Distinctive Cell

Extensive cell contacts which resemble septate junctions occur between cells in the three major zones of the rat adrenal cortex. Characteristically, they extend between small intercellular canaliculi and the periendothelial space, frequently interrupted by gap junctions and rarely by desmosomes. Zonulae occludentes have not been identified in the adrenal cortex. Along this distinctive cell contact, the cell membranes of apposing cells are separated by 210–300 a bisected by irregularly spaced 100–150-A extracellular particles which are often circular in profile. In lanthanum preparations, these particles appear to form a continuous chain throughout the intercellular space and are visualized as an alveolate structure in sections parallel to the plane of the cell membrane. The cell membrane in the area of septate-like contact does not differ from nonjunctional areas of the cell membrane in freeze-fracture replicas. The cell contact retains its integrity after cell dispersion and after the separation of cell membranes from disrupted cells. The intercellular particles also persist after brief extraction in lipid solvents. Besides adherence, possible functions of this adrenal contact include maintenance of the width of the extracellular space, the provision of channels between intercellular canaliculi and the bloodstream, and utilization as cation depots. Similar structures are also present between adrenal cortical cells of several other species and between interstitial cells of the testis. This type of cell contact may, in fact, be a typical feature of steroid-hormone-secreting tissues in vertebrates.

Photoreceptor disk membrane substructures by means of the complementary freeze-fracture-replica methods

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-157
Author(s):  
A. Tonosaki ◽  
M. Yamasaki ◽  
H. Washioka ◽  
J. Mizoguchi
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Purple Membrane ◽  
Remarkable Case ◽  
Single Face ◽  
Disk Membrane ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Photoreceptor Membranes

A vertebrate disk membrane is composed of 40 % lipids and 60 % proteins. Its fracture faces have been classed into the plasmic (PF) and exoplasmic faces (EF), complementary with each other, like those of most other types of cell membranes. The hypothesis assuming the PF particles as representing membrane-associated proteins has been challenged by serious questions if they in fact emerge from the crystalline formation or decoration effects during freezing and shadowing processes. This problem seems to be yet unanswered, despite the remarkable case of the purple membrane of Halobacterium, partly because most observations have been made on the replicas from a single face of specimen, and partly because, in the case of photoreceptor membranes, the conformation of a rhodopsin and its relatives remains yet uncertain. The former defect seems to be partially fulfilled with complementary replica methods.

Ultrastructural Cytopiasmic Changes of Adrenal Cortex During Pregnancy

1969 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 298-299
Author(s):  
T. M. Murad ◽  
Karen Israel ◽  
Jack C. Geer
Keyword(s):  
Adrenal Gland ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Adrenal Cortex ◽  
Lipid Droplets ◽  
Plasma Cholesterol ◽  
Adrenal Steroids ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Acetyl Coenzyme A ◽  
Adrenal Cortical Cells

Adrenal steroids are normally synthesized from acetyl coenzyme A via cholesterol. Cholesterol is also shown to enter the adrenal gland and to be localized in the lipid droplets of the adrenal cortical cells. Both pregnenolone and progesterone act as intermediates in the conversion of cholesterol into steroid hormones. During pregnancy an increased level of plasma cholesterol is known to be associated with an increase of the adrenal corticoid and progesterone. The present study is designed to demonstrate whether the adrenal cortical cells show any dynamic changes during pregnancy.

Fine structure of the band 3 protein in human red cell membranes: Freeze-fracture studies

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Weinstein ◽  
Jena K. Khodadad ◽  
Theodore L. Steck
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Band 3 ◽  
Red Cell ◽  
Band 3 Protein ◽  
Red Cell Membranes

scholarly journals Pathogenesis of shigella diarrhea. VII. Evidence for a cell membrane toxin receptor involving β1 {arrow} 4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine oligomers

1977 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
GT Keusch ◽  
M Jacewicz
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Cholera Toxin ◽  
Liver Cell ◽  
Hela Cells ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Proteolytic Enzymes ◽  
Cell Monolayer ◽  
Toxin Receptor ◽  
Toxin Uptake

The binding of ShigeUa dysenteriae 1 cytotoxin to HeLa cells in culture and to isolated rat liver cell membranes was studied by means of an indirect consumption assay of toxicity from the medium, or by determination of cytotoxicity to the HeLa cell monolayer. Both liver cell membranes and HeLa cells removed toxicity from the medium during incubation, in contrast to WI-38 and Y-1 mouse adrenal tumor cells, both of which neither bound nor were affected by the toxin. Uptake of toxin was directly related to concentration of membranes added, time,and temperature, and indirectly related to the ionic strength of the buffer used. The chemical nature of the membrane receptor was characterized by using three principal approaches: (a) enzymatic sensitivity; (b) competitive inhibition and (c) receptor blockade studies. The receptor was destroyed by proteolytic enzymes, phospholipases (which markedly altered the gross appearance of the membrane preparation) and by lysozyme, but not by a variety of other enzymes. Of 28 carbohydrate and glycoprotein haptens studied, including cholera toxin and ganglioside, only the chitin oligosaccharide lysozyme substrates, per N-acetylated chitotriose, chitotetraose, and chitopentaose were effective competitive inhibitors. Greatest inhibition was found with the trimer, N, N', N" triacetyl chitotriose. Of three lectins studied as possible receptor blockers, including phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin, only the latter, which is known to possess specific binding affinity for N, N', N" triacetyl chitotriose, was able to block toxin uptake. Evidence from all three approaches indicate, therefore, existence of a glycoprotein toxin receptor on mammalian cells, with involvement of oligomeric β1{arrow}4-1inked N-acetyl glucosamine in the receptor. This receptor is clearly distinct from the G(M1) ganglioside thought to be involved in the binding of cholera toxin to the cell membrane of a variety of cell types susceptible to its action.

Ammonia movement and distribution after exercise across white muscle cell membranes in rainbow trout

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (3) ◽  
pp. R738-R750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Wang ◽  
G. J. Heigenhauser ◽  
C. M. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Intracellular Ph ◽  
Muscle Cell ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Extracellular Ph ◽  
Posterior Portion ◽  
Arterial Inflow ◽  
Muscle Cell Membrane

Manipulations of pH and electrical gradients in a perfused preparation were used to analyze the factors controlling ammonia distribution and flux in trout white muscle after exercise. Trout were exercised to exhaustion, and then an isolated-perfused white muscle preparation with discrete arterial inflow and venous outflow was made from the posterior portion of the tail. The tail-trunks were perfused with low (7.4)-, medium (7.9)-, and high (8.4)-pH saline, achieved by varying HCO3- concentration ([HCO3-]) at constant Pco2. Intracellular and extracellular pH, ammonia, CO2, K+, Na+, and Cl- were measured. Muscle intracellular pH was not affected by changes in extracellular pH. Increasing extracellular pH caused a decrease in the transmembrane NH3 partial pressure (PNH3) gradient and a decrease in ammonia efflux. When extracellular K+ concentration was increased from 3.5 to 15 mM in the medium-pH group, a depolarization of the muscle cell membrane potential from -92 to -60 mV and a 0.1-unit depression in intracellular pH occurred. Ammonia efflux increased despite a marked reduction in the PNH3 gradient. Amiloride (10(-4) M) had no effect, indicating that Na+/H(+)-NH4+ exchange does not participate in ammonia transport in this system. A comparison of observed intracellular-to-extracellular ammonia distribution ratios with those modeled according to either pH or Nernst potential distributions supports a model in which ammonia distribution across white muscle cell membranes is affected by both pH and electrical gradients, indicating that the membranes are permeable to both NH3 and NH4+. Membrane potential, acting to retain high levels of NH4+ in the intracellular compartment, appears to have the dominant influence during the postexercise period. However, at rest, the pH gradient may be more important, resulting in much lower intracellular ammonia levels and distribution ratios. We speculate that the muscle cell membrane NH3-to-NH4+ permeability ratio in trout may change between the rest and postexercise condition.

A Convenient Method for Preparing the Cell-Membrane Network of the Wool Fiber, and a Note on the Effect of Ethanol on the Membranes in the Intact Fiber

1976 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 360-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Rachel Makinson
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Convenient Method ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Cortical Cell ◽  
Wool Fiber ◽  
Rapid Preparation ◽  
Cuticular Membrane ◽  
Expanded Form

A method is described for the rapid preparation of the cell-membrane network of a wool fiber in an expanded form suitable for microscopy. The form of the network is considerably modified by prior soaking of the fiber in ethanol at ambient temperature; this is ascribed to extraction of lipids from the membranes, so destroying their mutual adhesion by releasing them from the intercellular cement. A modification of the preparative technique is described that produces cortical cell membranes inside a tube of mutually adhering, relatively unaltered cuticle cells. This modification reveals particularly clearly the bilaterality of the cortex and any differences in reactions of the cuticle around the circumference of the fiber. Some earlier work on the existence of a “sub-cutis,” “sub-cuticular membrane,” or “zwischenmembran” is discussed and reinterpreted in the light of certain features observed in the course of this work. Deposition of polymers on the fiber makes the cuticle less extensible, so that it may split during preparation of the membranes.

Studies of membrane fusion. III. Fusion of erythrocytes with polyethylene glycol

1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
S. Knutton
Keyword(s):  
Polyethylene Glycol ◽  
Cell Fusion ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Cell Swelling ◽  
Adjacent Cell ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Cell Agglutination ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Freeze Fracture Electron Microscopy

Freeze-fracture electron microscopy has been used to investigate the mechanism of polyethylene glycol-induced cell fusion. Interaction of cells with the high concentrations of polyethylene glycol required for cell fusion results in cell agglutination with large planar areas of very close contact between adjacent cell membranes. An aggregation of intramembrane particles into large patches at the sites of cell-cell contact accompanies cell agglutination. Fusion occurs following the removal of most of the PEG when cells only remain in close contact at small (approximately 0.1 micrometer diameter) plaques of smooth membrane resulting in cells connected by one (or more) small cytoplasmic connexions. Expansion to form spherical fused cells occurs by a process of cell swelling.

Electron Microscopic Study of Penetration of Newcastle Disease Virus into Cells Leading to Formation of Polykaryocytes

1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-76
Author(s):  
N. MEISELMAN ◽  
A. KOHN ◽  
D. DANON
Keyword(s):  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Newcastle Disease Virus ◽  
Microscopic Study ◽  
Disease Virus ◽  
Newcastle Disease ◽  
Cell Membranes ◽  
Viral Envelope ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Input Multiplicity

Treatment of FL or Lu 106 epithelial cells with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) at an input multiplicity of 500 EID50 per cell induces in these cells the formation of polykaryocytes at the end of 2-3 h of contact. Electron micrographs of such NDV-treated monolayers after 2-10 min of incubation show the presence of virions adsorbed to the cell membranes, in vacuoles and with the viral envelope partly fused with the cell membrane. In polykaryocytes induced by NDV, remnants of cell membranes showing numerous breaks may still be present after 3 h.

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