scholarly journals THE FINE STRUCTURE OF SHEEP MYOCARDIAL CELLS; SARCOLEMMAL INVAGINATIONS AND THE TRANSVERSE TUBULAR SYSTEM

1962 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. O. Simpson ◽  
S. J. Oertelis

An electron microscope study of sheep myocardial cells has demonstrated the presence of a transverse tubular system, apparently forming a network across the cell at each Z band level. The walls of these tubules resemble the sarcolemma in consisting of two dense layers—plasma membrane and basement menbrane; continuity of the tubule walls with the sarcolemma can be seen when longitudinal sections of a cell are obtained between two subsarcolemmal myofibrils and at the same time perpendicular to the cell surface. The demonstration of communication between the lumen of the transverse tubular system and the extracellular space appears to be more definite in this study than in any work hitherto published. It provides anatomical evidence of a possible direct pathway for transmission of the activating impulse from the sarcolemma to the myofibril Z bands.

1967 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack L. Pate ◽  
Erling J. Ordal

An electron microscope study of the myxobacterium Chondrococcus columnaris has revealed the following structures in the peripheral layers of the cells: (1) a plasma membrane, (2) a single dense layer (probably the mucopeptide component of the cell wall), (3) peripheral fibrils, (4) an outer membrane, and (5) a material coating the surfaces of the cells which could be stained with the dye ruthenium red.The ruthenium red-positive material is probably an acid mucopolysaccharide and may be involved in the adhesive properties of the cells. The outer membrane and plasma membrane both have the appearance of unit membranes: an electron-translucent layer sandwiched between two electron-opaque layers. The peripheral fibrils span the gap between the outer membrane and the mucopeptide layer, a distance of about 100 A, and run parallel to each other along the length of the cell. The fibrils appear to be continuous across the ends of the cells. The location of these fibrillar structures suggests that they may play a role in the gliding motility of these bacteria.


1967 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hagopian ◽  
David Spiro

The fine structure of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the transverse tubular system of the femoral muscle of the cockroach, Leucophaea maderae, was studied after prefixation in glutaraldehyde, postfixation in osmium tetroxide, and embedding in Epon. The sarcoplasmic reticulum in this muscle reveals features not previously reported. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is abundant, consisting mainly of a fenestrated envelope which surrounds each myofibril at all levels in the sarcomere. This sarcoplasmic reticulum envelope is continuous transversally as well as longitudinally along the myofibrils. Dyadic junctions are formed by a single T system element which contacts the unfenestrated sarcoplasmic reticulum of adjacent myofibrils in an alternating manner at the ends of the A band. At the dyads, regularly spaced thickenings of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes bordering the dyadic spaces are noted. These thickenings, however, do not contact the T tubule membrane. Typical dyadic contacts also are seen between the cell surface membrane and sarcoplasmic reticulum. Z line-like material is seen in contact with the membranes of the cell surface and longitudinal branches of the T systems.


1959 ◽  
Vol s3-100 (49) ◽  
pp. 13-15
Author(s):  
K. DEUTSCH ◽  
M. M. SWANN

The fine structure of a species of small free-living amoeba, Hartmanella astronyxis, has been investigated. The mitochondria resemble those of other species of amoeba. Structureless bodies of about the same size as mitochondria are sometimes found in association with them. Double membranes are common in the cytoplasm, and may show granules along their outer borders. The nuclear membrane is a double-layered structure, with a honeycomb structure evident in tangential sections. The cell membrane is also double-layered, or occasionally multi-layered.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2973-2987 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Horst ◽  
D M Forestner ◽  
J C Besharse

The ciliary base is marked by a transition zone in which Y-shaped cross-linkers extend from doublet microtubules to the plasma membrane. Our goal was to investigate the hypothesis that the cross-linkers form a stable interaction between membrane or cell surface components and the underlying microtubule cytoskeleton. We have combined Triton X-100 extraction with lectin cytochemistry in the photoreceptor sensory cilium to investigate the relationship between cell surface glycoconjugates and the underlying cytoskeleton, and to identify the cell surface components involved. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) binds heavily to the cell surface in the region of the Y-shaped cross-linkers of the neonatal rat photoreceptor cilium. WGA binding is not removed by prior digestion with neuraminidase and succinyl-WGA also binds the proximal cilium, suggesting a predominance of N-acetylglucosamine containing glycoconjugates. Extraction of the photoreceptor plasma membrane with Triton X-100 removes the lipid bilayer, leaving the Y-shaped crosslinkers associated with the axoneme. WGA-binding sites are found at the distal ends of the crosslinkers after Triton X-100 extraction, indicating that the microtubule-membrane cross-linkers retain both a transmembrane and a cell surface component after removal of the lipid bilayer. To identify glycoconjugate components of the cross-linkers we used a subcellular fraction enriched in axonemes from adult bovine retinas. Isolated, detergent-extracted bovine axonemes show WGA binding at the distal ends of the cross-linkers similar to that seen in the neonatal rat. Proteins of the axoneme fraction were separated by SDS-PAGE and electrophoretically transferred to nitrocellulose. WGA labeling of the nitrocellulose transblots reveals three glycoconjugates, all of molecular mass greater than 400 kD. The major WGA-binding glycoconjugate has an apparent molecular mass of approximately 600 kD and is insensitive to prior digestion with neuraminidase. This glycoconjugate may correspond to the dominant WGA-binding component seen in cytochemical experiments.


1990 ◽  
Vol 240 (1297) ◽  
pp. 197-210 ◽  

Immunolabelling with a 5 nm gold probe was used to localize dystrophin at the ultrastructural level in human muscle. The primary antibody was monoclonal, raised against a segment (amino acids 1181-1388) from the rod domain of dystrophin. The antibody (Dy4/6D3) is specific for dystrophin and shows no immunoreactivity with any protein from mdx mouse muscle or from patients with a gene deletion spanning part of the molecule recognized by the antibody (Nicholson et al . 1989 a ; England et al . 1990). Using this antibody, labelling was almost entirely confined to a narrow 75 nm rim at the periphery of the muscle fibres. Histograms of the distance from the gold probe to the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane and of the distance between gold probes (nearest neighbour in a plane parallel with the plasma membrane) displayed modes at approximately 15 nm and 120 nm, respectively. The distribution of the probe was the same in longitudinal and transverse sections of the muscle. These observations suggest that the rod portion of the dystrophin mole­cule is normally arranged close to the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane and that the molecules form an interconnecting network. Labelling was not associated with the transverse tubular system.


1960 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Keech

The fine structure of the normal rat aorta is described. The presence of a sub-endothelial layer, the oblique orientation of the smooth muscle cells with respect to the aortic axis, and the occurrence of desmosomes between these cells and adjacent elastic laminae, are emphasized. Lead-stained collagen presented a characteristic signet-ring appearance on cross-section. The rats examined were the pair-fed controls for the lathyritic series described in a separate communication.


2002 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 1247-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leora Gollan ◽  
Helena Sabanay ◽  
Sebastian Poliak ◽  
Erik O. Berglund ◽  
Barbara Ranscht ◽  
...  

An axonal complex of cell adhesion molecules consisting of Caspr and contactin has been found to be essential for the generation of the paranodal axo-glial junctions flanking the nodes of Ranvier. Here we report that although the extracellular region of Caspr was sufficient for directing it to the paranodes in transgenic mice, retention of the Caspr–contactin complex at the junction depended on the presence of an intact cytoplasmic domain of Caspr. Using immunoelectron microscopy, we found that a Caspr mutant lacking its intracellular domain was often found within the axon instead of the junctional axolemma. We further show that a short sequence in the cytoplasmic domain of Caspr mediated its binding to the cytoskeleton-associated protein 4.1B. Clustering of contactin on the cell surface induced coclustering of Caspr and immobilized protein 4.1B at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, deletion of the protein 4.1B binding site accelerated the internalization of a Caspr–contactin chimera from the cell surface. These results suggest that Caspr serves as a “transmembrane scaffold” that stabilizes the Caspr/contactin adhesion complex at the paranodal junction by connecting it to cytoskeletal components within the axon.


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