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An ultrastructural study of the subcommissural organ cells of the African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis

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Summary

Ultrastructural features of the subcommissural organ (SCO) cells in larvae (stages 56–58, according to Nieuwkoop and Faber, 1956), toadlets (3 months after metamorphosis) and older toads (2-year old) of Xenopus laevis are described. Several age-related morphological differences in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of the SCO cells have been found. In old toads the rough ER assumes a special “ladder-like” membrane configuration in its cisternal lumen.

By means of the periodic acid-chromic acid-silver methenamine (PA-CrA-SM) method, complex carbohydrates are detected electron microscopically in the SCO cells. Positive reactions take place in the cell adhesive apparatus, the secretory granules, part of the Golgi complex, and the intracisternal “ladder-like” structure. Passing through the Golgi complex, the secretory products mature into the secretory granules by association of their proteinaceous component with polysaccharides. The majority of the secretory granules are released from the apical cell surface by means of reverse pinocytosis, while the rest are released through the basal process into the blood circulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    Masami Wakahara

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  1. Masami Wakahara
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The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Professor Tomoji Aoto for his kind guidance and encouragement during the course of this investigation and for improvement of the manuscript.

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Wakahara, M. An ultrastructural study of the subcommissural organ cells of the African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis . Cell Tissue Res. 152, 239–252 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224698

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224698

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