Summary
The pineal glands of Wistar rats were fixed in glutaraldehyde and prepared by the freeze-etching technique. With regard to the form and internal structure of pineal cells this technique has revealed nothing essentially new. Synaptic ribbons are very rarely found. A regular diagonal arrangement of membrane attached particles between the Schwann cell and the axon of an autonomic nerve terminal was observed.
Three types of contact areas between pineal cells are described. In the first two types, which occur more frequently, the diameter of the area varied from 1000 to 2500 Å, with irregularly aggregated membrane associated particles. The third type, larger but less frequently found, has a surface area of 0.4 μm2 and much more regularly distributed membrane associated particles (ø 88 Å). These contact areas can be considered to be electric coupling areas between pineal cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antón-Tay, F.: Pineal-brain relationships. In: The pineal gland (ed. by G.E.W. Wolstenholme and J. Knight), p. 213–220. Edinburgh and London: Churchill Livingstone 1971
Dermietzel, R.: Visualization by freeze-fracturing of regular structures in glia cell membranes. Naturwissensohaften 60, 208 (1973)
Dermietzel, R., Brettschneider, H.: Eine Untersuchung peripherer vegetativer Nervenfasern des Ductus deferens mit Hilfe der Gefrierätztechnik. Z. Zellforsch. 137, 111–124 (1973)
Krstić, R.: A freeze-etching study of the rat pineal gland. Proceedings of the Third European Anatomical Congr., p. 108–109. Manchester, Windsor and London: John B. Reed Ltd. 1973
Livingston, R. B., Pfenninger, K., Moor, H., Akert, K.: Specialized paranodal and interparanodal glial-axonal junctions in the peripheral and central nervous system: a freezeetching study. Brain Res. 58, 1–24 (1973)
Milin, R., Devečerski, V., Krstić, R.: Corpus pinéale-glande de nature sensoneuroendocrine. C. R. Acad. Sci. (Bosnie et Herzégovine) 37, 69–84 (1969)
Moor, H., Mühlethaler, K.: Fine structure in frozen-etched yeast cells. J. Cell Biol. 17, 609–628 (1963)
Orci, L., Perrelet, A., Like, A. A.: Fenestrae in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of the exocrine pancreatic cells. J. Cell Biol. 55, 245–249 (1972)
Payton, B. W., Bennett, M.V.L., Pappas, G. D.: Permeability and structures of junctional membranes at an electrotonic synapse. Science 166, 1641–1643 (1969)
Revel, J. P., Yee, A. G., Hudspeth, A. J.: Gap junctions between electronically coupled cells in tissue culture and in brown fat. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 68, 2924–2927 (1971)
Reynolds, E.: The use of lead citrate at high pH as an electron-opaque stain in electron microscopy. J. Cell Biol. 17, 208–212 (1963)
Staehelin, L. A.: Three types of gap junctions interconnecting intestinal epithelial cells visualized by freeze-etching. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 69, 1318–1321 (1972)
Wolfe, B. E.: The epiphyseal cell: an electron-microscopic study of its intercellular relationships and intercellular morphology in the pineal body of the albino rat. In: Structure and function of the epiphysis cerebri (ed. by J. Ariëns Kappers and J. P. Schadé), p. 332–376. Amsterdam-London New-York: Elsevier 1965
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krstić, R. Ultrastructure of rat pineal gland after preparation by Freeze-etching technique. Cell Tissue Res. 148, 371–379 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224264
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224264