Summary
Cardiac muscle cells in the right ventricle of the postnatal opposum were studied ultrastructurally, with particular attention to the developmental stage of T-tubule formation. Animals ranging from 5.5cm (day 29 of postnatal life) to 41 cm (young adult) in body length were used. Typical T-tubules were first recognized in a few myocardial cells of the 7.5cm (day 43) opossum. T-tubules increased in number as cardiac muscle cells continued to differentiate until 22cm in body length (about 105 days after birth). At this stage of development most of the T-tubules were completely established. The general mode of differentiation and development of cardiac muscle cells appeared essentially the same as in other mammals.
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This work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid to R.H. form the Ministry of Education of Japan for special project research on the cardiovascular system
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Hirakow, R., Krause, W.J. Postnatal differentiation of ventricular myocardial cells of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana Kerr) and T-tubule formation. Cell Tissue Res. 210, 95–100 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00232145
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00232145