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An ultrastructural study of the juxtaglomerular apparatus in the toad, Bufo bufo

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Summary

The fine structure of the juxtaglomerular apparatus in the toad, Bufo bufo was investigated.—It is suggested that the granules in the media cells of the afferent arteriole are formed from the Golgi apparatus. Many granules have a content of lamellar material. The media cells do not show the ultrastructural features of active secretory cells. In the media cells, the myofilaments are situated near the vascular lumen. The other cell organelles, including the granules, are preferentially located at the opposite pole of the cell in the neighbourhood of the macula densa cells and the adventitial nerve fibres. In these regions the media cells show many pinocytotic vesicles. The nerve fibres innervating the juxtaglomerular cells are non-myelinated and their varicosities contain dense core vesicles. The basement membranes of media cells and adjacent macula densa cells occasionally fuse, which may indicate a functional relationship between these cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Laboratory, Medical Faculty, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    A. P. M. Lamers, W. J. van Dongen & J. A. M. van Kemenade

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  1. A. P. M. Lamers
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  2. W. J. van Dongen
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  3. J. A. M. van Kemenade
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Additional information

We express our great thanks to Dr. A. M. Stadhouders for enabling us to do this work in his Institute (Department of Electron Microscopy, University of Nijmegen) and for his critical reading of the manuscript, to Miss Thea Jansen for typing the text and Mr. A. J. Breebaart for preparing the electron micrographs. This investigation was supported by research grant 91-13 from the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.).

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Lamers, A.P.M., van Dongen, W.J. & van Kemenade, J.A.M. An ultrastructural study of the juxtaglomerular apparatus in the toad, Bufo bufo . Cell Tissue Res. 153, 449–464 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231540

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