ARTICLE

STUDIES ON AN EPITHELIAL (GLAND) CELL JUNCTION

Joseph Wiener ¹, David Spiro ¹, and Werner R. Loewenstein ¹

¹ From the Department of Pathology and Department of Physiology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York

The surface structure of a gland epithelium (Drosophila salivary gland), particularly that at the junction between cells, was examined under the electron microscope. The junctional surface, which in the preceding paper was shown to be highly permeable to ions, has the following structural characteristics. About two-thirds of it are profusely infolded; the surface membranes of adjoining cells interdigitate and present desmosomes. The width of the intercellular space varies considerably. The remainder of the junctional surface, the third that abuts on the lumen, is rather straight. Here, the cell membranes are aligned parallel at a distance of 150 A, and interconnected at regular intervals of 100 A. The connecting material has a high electron opacity, and is about as thick as the cell membranes, but, unlike the latter, has no resolvable unit membrane structure. The surface at the cell base, which in the preceding paper was shown to be rather impermeable, is infolded and resembles the infolded junctional region. The luminal surface exhibits microvilli. Critical surface dimensions are given, and the implications of surface structure in intercellular permeability are discussed.

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Penn, R. D., Loewenstein, W. R. (1966). Uncoupling of a Nerve Cell Membrane Junction by Calcium-Ion Removal. Science 151: 88-89 [Abstract]  
• Nakas, M., Higashino, S., Loewenstein, W. R. (1966). Uncoupling of an Epithelial Cell Membrane Junction by Calcium-Ion Removal. Science 151: 89-91 [Abstract]  
• Loewenstein, W. R., Socolar, S. J., Higashino, S., Kanno, Y., Davidson, N. (1965). Intercellular Communication: Renal, Urinary Bladder, Sensory, and Salivary Gland Cells. Science 149: 295-298 [Abstract]  

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