ISSN:
0003-276X
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
The freeze-fracture technique was used to study the density and distribution of plasmalemmal vesicles at the endothelial surface of canine carotid arteries. The fractured surface of the endothelium can be divided into areas with vesicles (Aves) and areas without vesicles (Anves), the latter being located at the parajunctional zone. With morphometric analysis, Aves and Anves were found to be 75% and 25% of the endothelial surface, respectively. The average width of Anves (distance from the intercellular cleft) is approxmately 0.4 μ. In Aves, the density of vesicles is 120 μm-2, and approxmately 16% of Aves is covered by the vesicle orifices. The tight junctions appear as long and straight strands, 8-9 nm in width. The number of the strands varies from one to five. The gap junctions consist of closely packed particles 9-10 nm in size which form patches or plaques from 80 to 800 nm in size. These findings provide the quantitative information needed for the theoretical modeling of transendeothelial vesicular transport of macromolecules.
Additional Material:
2 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1092100103
