Summary
The Polian vesicles are tubules of variable length consisting of four layers: an external peritoneal epithelium, a connective tissue layer, a muscular layer, and an inner epithelium. The two simple epithelia produce a polysaccharide in their Golgi complexes. Their cellular junctions consist of an extensive “zonula adhaerens”, and an apical septate desmosome. Their surfaces possess microvilli and cilia. A basement membrane is lacking. The muscular layer is composed of paramyosin fibers. The connective tissue layer contains abundant collagen fibers that have a period of 640 Å and are embedded in an acid mucopolysaccharide matrix. Amoebocytes containing waste products and an acid mucopolysaccharide enter the Polian vesicles from the coelom, pass through them, and empty into the lumen along with material secreted by the inner epithelium. While establishing close contact with cells of the muscular layer and inner epithelium the amoebocytes seem to transfer part of their contents to these cells.
Polian vesicles appear to be a very primitive “excretory” organ.
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Baccetti, B., Rosati, F. The fine structure of the polian vesicles of holothurians. Z. Zellforsch 90, 148–160 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00496708
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00496708