Submandibular duct salivary bladder of the rat.

This investigation is a light and electron microscopic description of the submandibular duct salivary bladder of the rat, a dilation of the distal end of the main excretory duct. The wall of the bladder consists of a mucosa with pseudostratified epithelium, a submucosal layer of connective tissue, and an underlying layer of striated muscle. The pseudostratified columnar epithelium lining the bladder is composed of three cell types: light cells, dark cells, and basal cells. The lamina propria contains bundles of collagen, attenuated fibrocytes, capillaries with fenestrated endothelia, and nerve fibers which enter the epithelial layer. The capillaries of the submucosa are not fenestrated. The morphology of the wall of this structure provides evidence that the primary fluid of the submandibular gland is modified in the bladder by transepithelial fluid and ion transport.

An electron microscopic study on the type I pneumocyte in the cat: postnatal morphogenesis.

This investigation describes the morphogenesis of the type I pneumocyte from the neonatal stage to the age of 3 months. Cells lining subpleural air spaces were photographed from electron microscopic serial sections and a three-dimensional representation of each cell was obtained by transferring the contours of the cell membranes from micrographs to transparent plastic sheets which were then spaced to scale and stacked. The portion of the reconstructed cell surface taking part in the formation of the blood-air barrier increased extensively in postnatal stages when compared with reconstructed cells of prenatal stages. Reconstructed cell-surface irregularities decrease during distension. A cytoplasmic plate seen in the last stage studied may represent a forming alveolar pore.

An electron microscopic study on the type I pneumocyte in the cat: pre-natal morphogenesis.

This investigation describes the pre-natal morphogenesis of the type I pneumocyte subsequent to its differentiation from pulmonary epithelium. Cells lining subpleural alveolar septa were photographed from serial sections with the electron microscope, and a three-dimensional representation of each cell was obtained by transferring the contours of the cell membranes from montages to transparent plastic sheets which were then spaced to scale and stacked. The results of this study indicate that: The nascent blood-air barrier of a 50-day reconstructed cell was twice as thick as the average definitive barrier; definitive barrier thickness was observed in some areas in a 63-day reconstructed cell; the amorphous component of elastic tissue which appears peripherally in septal connective tissue during pre-natal morphogenesis may be directly juxtaposed to the basal lamina of the alveolar epithelium; the orientation of the cell junction between a pneumocyte and its neighboring cells, as observed in sections of alveolar septa, changes as the contour of the pneumocyte changes from simple abutment to overlapping patterns.

An electron microscopic study on the type I pneumocyte in the cat: differentiation.

This investigation describes the differentiation of the type I pneumocyte from undifferentiated pulmonary epithelium. Cells lining subpleural alveolar septa were photographed from serial sections with the electron microscope and a three dimensional representation of each cell was obtained by transferring the contours of the cell membranes from micrographs to transparent plastic sheets which were then spaced to scale and stacked. The results of this study indicate that: (1) the only reliable criterion for differentiating between type I and type II cells is the commencement of attenuation of the type I cell; (2) differentiation of the type I cell occurs via the formation of one or more cytoplasmic attenuations that eventually fuse peripherally, thereby surrounding the unattenuated cell soma; (3) with respect to individual cells, blood-air barriers tend to form in distal areas of the attenuating cytoplasm before proximal areas; (4) both type I and type II pneumocytes retain certain characteristics that reveal their common origin.