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Studies on the liver of Xenopus laevis

III. The ultrastructure and the glycogen content of the developing liver

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Summary

The ultrastructural changes during development and metamorphosis in the liver ofXenopus laevis have been investigated. In this species it was found that developmental processes, which ultimately lead to the formation of bile canaliculi, can be detected in the liver anlage as early as stage 35.

While the wall of the primary liver cavity is thrown into folds which form the liver parenchyma, the bile canaliculi are formed (st. 36–38). Secretion into the lumen of the bile canaliculi was not found to occur before stage 47 and IDP-ase activity could not be detected in the bile canaliculi before stage 49.

The intra- and extrahepatic portions of the hepatic duct system were found to be formed during the stages 40–41. The formation of the duct system involves cellular degeneration in the lumen of the future ducts. These processes are described in detail.

The glycogen content of the developing hepatocytes received particular attention during the course of this study. It was found that after depletion of the embryonal glycogen the hepatocytes are completely free from glycogen during the stages 43–45. At stage 46, after the begin of feeding, beta as well as alpha particles of glycogen appear in the hepatocytes. These first reappearing glycogen particles are formed without the participation of SER membranes, in areas which are loaded with RNA particles. It was found that only after the synthesis of glycogen had been initiated SER membranes started to proliferate in the hepatocytes, where they were mostly found intermingled with glycogen particles. From stage 54 on, where the liver glycogen content was found to be 0.2%, the glycogen content of the liver almost continuously increased until it reached a temporary peak of 10% at the end of metamorphosis. These findings strongly contrast results reported for other amphibia, which at the end of metamorphosis have depleted their glycogen content completely.

Details of the ultrastructural changes occuring during development of the hepatocytes, are also reported in this paper.

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  1. Anatomisches Institut der Universität Basel, Pestalozzistr. 20, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Udo M. Spornitz

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  1. Udo M. Spornitz
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The author wishes to thank Prof. Dr. K.S. Ludwig for his valuable criticism and encouragement during the course of this study and Dr. D. Hare for correcting the English manuscript

This paper has been published in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. of the University of Basel

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Spornitz, U.M. Studies on the liver of Xenopus laevis. Anat. Embryol. 154, 1–25 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317951

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