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

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.

1965 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gedeon Matoltsy ◽  
Paul F. Parakkal

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.


1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 638-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Smith ◽  
R. L. Chandler

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.


1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-324
Author(s):  
E.E. Schneeberger ◽  
D.V. Walters ◽  
R.E. Olver

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.


1965 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Kwon Choi

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.


Author(s):  
C. N. Sun ◽  
H. J. White ◽  
E. J. Towbin

Diabetes insipidus and compulsive water drinking are representative of two categories of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) lack. We studied a strain of rats with congenital diabetes insipidus homozygote (DI) and normal rats on an isocaloric fortified dilute milk diet. In both cases, the collecting tubules could not concentrate urine. Special staining techniques, Alcian Blue-PAS for light microscopy and lanthanum nitrate for electron microscopy were used to demonstrate the changes in interstitial mucopolysaccharides (MPS). The lanthanum staining was done according to the method of Khan and Overton.Electron microscopy shows cytoplasmic lesions, vacules, swelling and degenerating mitochondria and intercellular spaces (IS) in the collecting tubule cells in DI and rats on milk diet.


Author(s):  
Linda M. Sicko ◽  
Thomas E. Jensen

The use of critical point drying is rapidly becoming a popular method of preparing biological samples for scanning electron microscopy. The procedure is rapid, and produces consistent results with a variety of samples. The preservation of surface details is much greater than that of air drying, and the procedure is less complicated than that of freeze drying. This paper will present results comparing conventional air-drying of plant specimens to critical point drying, both of fixed and unfixed material. The preservation of delicate structures which are easily damaged in processing and the use of filter paper as a vehicle for drying will be discussed.


Author(s):  
Raoul Fresco ◽  
Mary Chang-Lo

Confusion surrounds the nature of the “adenomatoid tumor” of the testis, as evidenced by the large number of synonyms which have been ascribed to it. Various authors have considered the tumor to be of endothelial, mesothelial or epithelial origin. There appears to be no controversy as to the stromal elements of the tumor, which consists mainly of smooth muscle and fibrous tissue. It is the irregular gland-like spaces which have given rise to the numerous theories as to its histogenesis, and even recent ultrastructural studies fail to agree on the origin of these structures.Electron microscopy of a typical intrascrotal adenomatoid tumor showed the gland-like spaces to be lined by epithelial cells (Fig. 1), rich in cytoplasmic tonofibrils and united to each other by numerous desmosomes (Fig. 2). The most salient feature of these epithelial cells was the presence on their luminal surface of numerous long and repeatedly branching microvillous structures of the type known as stereocilia (Fig. 3). These are extremely long slender cell processes which are as much as three to four times the length of those in brush borders.


Author(s):  
D.R. Hill ◽  
J.R. McCurry ◽  
L.P. Elliott ◽  
G. Howard

Germination of Euonymous americanus in the laboratory has previously been unsuccessful. Ability to germinate Euonymous americanus. commonly known as the american strawberry bush, is important in that it represents a valuable food source for the white-tailed deer. Utilizing the knowledge that its seeds spend a period of time in the rumin fluid of deer during their dormant stage, we were successful in initiating germination. After a three month drying period, the seeds were placed in 25 ml of buffered rumin fluid, pH 8 at 40°C for 48 hrs anaerobically. They were then allowed to dry at room temperature for 24 hrs, placed on moistened filter paper and enclosed within an environmental chamber. Approximately four weeks later germination was detected and verified by scanning electron microscopy; light microscopy provided inadequate resolution. An important point to note in this procedure is that scarification, which was thought to be vital for germination, proved to be unnecessary for successful germination to occur. It is believed that germination was propagated by the secretion of enzymes or prescence of acids produced by microorganisms found in the rumin fluid since sterilized rumin failed to bring about germination.


Author(s):  
Julian P. Heath ◽  
Buford L. Nichols ◽  
László G. Kömüves

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.


2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahida Shahana ◽  
Caroline Kampf ◽  
Godfried M. Roomans

Background: Allergic asthma is associated with an increased number of eosinophils in the airway wall. Eosinophils secrete cationic proteins, particularly major basic protein (MBP).Aim: To investigate the effect of synthetic cationic polypeptides such as poly-L-arginine, which can mimic the effect of MBP, on airway epithelial cells.Methods: Cultured airway epithelial cells were exposed to poly-L-arginine, and effects were determined by light and electron microscopy.Results: Poly-L-arginine induced apoptosis and necrosis. Transmission electron microscopy showed mitochondrial damage and changes in the nucleus. The tight junctions were damaged, as evidenced by penetration of lanthanum. Scanning electron microscopy showed a damaged cell membrane with many pores. Microanalysis showed a significant decrease in the cellular content of magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and chlorine, and an increase in calcium. Plakoglobin immunoreactivity in the cell membrane was decreased, indicating a decrease in the number of desmosomes.Conclusions: The results point to poly-L-arginine induced membrane damage, resulting in increased permeability, loss of cell-cell contacts and generalized cell damage.


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