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Direct connections between mitochondria and catecholamine-storage vesicles demonstrated by high voltage electron microscopy in rat adrenal medulla

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Summary

Tubular channels from mitochondria to catecholamine-storage vesicles have been demonstrated in thick sections of adrenal medullary tissue from hypoglycemia-stressed rats by the use of the high voltage electron microscope. The function of these connections is not presently known although they may serve as channels for the transport of materials such as high-energy nucleotides from one organelle to the other. The present study has examined only the adrenal medulla, but it should be considered that such connections may also exist in other neural cells and possibly other cells in which there is intracellular transport of ATP.

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  1. Departments of Anatomy and Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Stephen W. Carmichael & David J. Smith

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  1. Stephen W. Carmichael
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  2. David J. Smith
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This work was supported by NIH DRR 70-4136, WVU Medical Corporation Research Grants, Biomedical Research Support Grant 5 SOI RR05433, WVU Senate Research Grant, and West Virginia Heart Association Research Grant. We wish to thank Barbara Coalgate, Billie Pack, and the staffs of the HVEM laboratories at U.S. Steel and University of Colorado.

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Carmichael, S.W., Smith, D.J. Direct connections between mitochondria and catecholamine-storage vesicles demonstrated by high voltage electron microscopy in rat adrenal medulla. Cell Tissue Res. 191, 421–432 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219806

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