Biomedical subjects

N E Flower

Publications and source records attributed to N E Flower.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1979

Rectal papillae in Musca domestica: the cuticle and lateral membranes.

The role of specialized regions of insect rectal papillae in the regulation of water and ion uptake is well documented. Although the apparatus for active uptake of water or ions is located in various cell membranes, the absorbed molecules must first pass through the cuticle which lines the rectal epithelium. Most cuticle (e.g. abdominal) has been shown to be permeable only to molecules soluble in wax, and to be impermeable to water and ions. Obviously if such cuticle lined the rectum, absorption of water and ions would be severely restricted. The present freeze-fracture and lanthanum tracer study was undertaken to investigate in more detail both the morphological features of the rectal papillae cuticle which could be responsible for its anomalous permeability and the various cell membranes involved in this transport. It has been suggested from permeability studies that the anomalous permeability of rectal papillae cuticle could be due to the lack of a complete wax layer over the surface of the rectal cuticle. The present study strongly supports this suggestion. Thus, the freeze-fracture micrographs have shown that a surface layer of the cuticle reacts during fracturing like a lipid bilayer. However, in rectal papilla cuticle this surface bilayer is interrupted at each epicuticular depression by areas of different fracturing behaviour. These discontinuities in the surface bilayer probably allow the rectal contents to contact directly the true cuticular matrix. They could, therefore, explain the case with which water and ions penetrate the rectal cuticle and so gain access to the underlying epithelial cells. Although similar discontinuities are present on some of the rectal cuticle surface external to the rectal papillae, they appear to be filled in by plugs of lipid-like material. The lateral plasma membranes of the rectal papillae cells are generally considered to be the main site of active transport. The present lanthanum tracer and freeze-fracture study has shown that the lateral plasma membranes contain 3 distinct differentiations. Septate junctions are present at the apical and basal surfaces of the epithelial layer; a further membrane differentiation is found adjacent to the septate junctions; and thirdly, an array of short, variable length, non-anastomosing linear structures covers most of the lateral plasma membrane surface. These latter structures, unlike known types of cell junctions do not show equivalent arrays in apposing membranes even when the lateral plasma membranes of adjacent cells are closely apposed. The possible function of these structures is discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

Junctional structures in hydra.

The sealing and communicating junctions present in hydra have been examined using conventional staining, lanthanum tracer and freeze-fracturing techniques. The presence of distinct types of gap and septate junctions has been confirmed. Combined lanthanum tracer and freeze-fracture results have provided a more detailed understanding of these junctional structures. A model has been constructed which demonstrates the various aspects of the junction seen at different sectioning angles. The probable lengths of septa within septate junctions and the junctional 'maze' formed by them is discussed because of its bearing on the 'sealing' nature of the junction and also, to some extent, on its permeability to tracers such as lanthanum.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

Invertebrate gap junctions.

Both glycerol and glutaraldehyde, the two most commonly used chemical aids in freeze-fractue studies, have been shown individually to affect the structure of certain membranes as observed in freeze-fracture replicas. The present investigation studied the effect of glycerol on the gap junctions found in a number of tissues from several invertebrate phyla. Glycerol was shown, in some of these tissues, to affect both the spatial arrangement of the particles within the membrane and their fracturing properties if the tissue had not been prefixed with glutaraldehyde. It is suggested that the effect of glycerol on invertebrate gap junctions may be of diagnostic use in enabling them to be separated into a number, or spectrum, of types. Previously B-type gap junctions have been reported only in Arthropoda. This study has extended knowledge of their occurrence into the phyla Coelenterata, Platyhelminthes and Annelida. The B-type gap junctions appear consistently to have a 12-nm particle separation, which is larger than the 10-nm separation found in vertebrate and molluscan A-type gap junctions.

Animals↗

PubMed1976

Goblet cell membrane differentiations in the midgut of a lepidopteran larva.

So-called goblet cells are present in the midgut of lepidopteran larvae. They are thought to be involved in the active transport of potassium out of the haemolymph and into the gut lumen. A number of plasma membrane differentiations within the goblet cell cavity has been investigated using conventional staining, lanthanum tracer and freeze-etch techniques. Of particular interest are junction-like inter- and intra-membrane differentiations found on the villus-like cytoplasmic projections present at the apical tip of the goblet cell cavities. These cytoplasmic projections appear to act as a valve; in some cases they seem to close off the top of the goblet cell cavity, so isolating it from the gut lumen, while in other cases they are spread apart leaving a wide channel from the cavity into the lumen. The junction-like structures on these cytoplasmic projections are different in structure from the septate-type junctions which seal the midgut cells together at their apical borders, and the 2 types are present on the same plasma membrane, often within one micron of each other. The need for a different type of junction may possibly be related to the fact that it occurs between 2 areas of the same plasma membrane. The morphology of this unusual junction-like structure is discussed and 2 diagrams are presented to illustrate our interpretation of its structure.

Animals↗

PubMed1975

Junctional structures in the midgut cells of lepidopteran caterpillars.

The junctional structures present between the midgut cells of 3 lepidopteran caterpillars have been examined using freeze-etching, conventional staining and lanthanum tracer techniques. The bonding junction present in this type of tissue is the so-called continuous junction. Septa have only occassionally been reported in conventionally strained cross-sections of these junctions. During the present study septa have been observed in such sections but were more readily located in tissue treated with lanthanum tracer. Tangential sections of lanthanum-impregnated tissue show that these septa are parallel-sided, in contrast to the honeycomb appearance of the septa in septate junctions. The septa in freeze-etch replicas of glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue often show continuous rods on one membrane face, suggesting that the continuous junction may be more akin to the tight junction than to the normal septate junction. However, freeze-etch replicas of unfixed tissue appear much more like replicas of normal septate junctions. The main differences between septate and continuous junctions appear to be that the inter-membrane septa of the continuous junction are parallel-sided in tangential section, as against the honeycomb appearance of the septate junction, and that the particles which delineate the septa in freeze-etched preparations appear to be both somewhat differentl bonded and closer together in the continuous junction. A diagram is presented showing the internal and inter-membrane structures of the 2 types of junction based on the present study, and suggesting a possible explanation of the fact that septa are more readily seen in cross-sections of septate junctions than in continuous junctions. As septa are present in both types of junction, and because their freeze-etch appearances are not very different, it is suggested that the two types of septate junction be called 'smooth septate' and 'pleated septate' junctions, to indicate their characteristic appearances in tangential section.

Animals↗