Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intercellular communication and some structural aspects of membrane junctions in a simple cell system

  • Published:
The Journal of Membrane Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

AChironomus salivary gland consists of a chain of 30 giant cells (G-cells) and 4 to 6 flat cells (F-cells) spanning a lumen. The surface membranes of these cells are linked by two kinds of organized structures: theseptate junction, taking up nearly the entire surface of cell contact, and thegap junction, occupying a small fraction of this surface. (These junctional structures are examined in the electron microscope after La infiltration.) All cells are joined to their immediate neighbors by septate junctions, the G- to G-cells, the F- to F-cells, and the F- to G-cells; the G-cells, at least, are also joined by gap junctions. All cells are also in communication with each other: small inorganic ions, fluorescein (mol. wt. 330) and Procion Yellow (mol. wt. ∼550) pass from one cell interior to the next.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asada, Y., Pappas, G. D., Bennett, M. V. L. 1967. Alteration of resistance at an electrotonic junction and morphological correlates.Fed. Proc. 26:330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, L., Dewey, M. M., Berger, W. 1965. Propagation of action potentials and the structure of the nexus.J. Gen. Physiol. 48:797.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti, E. L., Emmelot, P., 1968. Hexagonal array of subunits in tight junctions separated from isolated rat liver plasma membranes.J. Cell Biol. 38:15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, M. V. L. 1966. Physiology of electrotonic junctions.Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 137:509.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, Dunham, P. B., Pappas, G. D. 1967. Ion fluxes through a junction.J. Gen. Physiol. 50:1094.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brightman, M. W., Reese, T. S. 1969. Junctions between intimately apposed cell membranes in the vertebrate brain.J. Cell Biol. 40:648.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullivant, S., Loewenstein, W. R. 1968. Structure of coupled and uncoupled cell junctions.J. Cell Biol. 37:621.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar, M. G., Palade, G. 1963. Junctional complexes in various epithelia.J. Cell Biol. 17:375.

    Google Scholar 

  • —— 1965. Cell junctions in amphibian skin.J. Cell Biol. 26:263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furshpan, E. J., Potter, D. D. 1959. Transmission at the giant motor synapses of crayfish.J. Physiol. 145:289.

    Google Scholar 

  • —— 1968. Low resistance junctions between cells in embryos and tissue culture.Curr. Topics Devel. Biol. 3:95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilula, N. B., Branton, D., Satir, P. 1970. The septate junction—a structural basis for intercellular coupling.Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 67:213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamakosmanovic, A., Loewenstein, W. R. 1968. Intercellular communication and tissue growth. III. Thyroid cancer.J. Cell Biol. 38:556.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., Loewenstein, W. R. 1966. Cell-to-cell passage of large molecules.Nature 212:629.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kloetzel, J. A., Laufer, H. 1969. A fine-structural analysis of larval salivary gland function inChironomus thummi (Diptera).J. Ultrastruct. Res. 29:15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kravitz, E. A., Stretton, A. O. W., Alvarez, J., Furshpan, E. J. 1968. Determination of neuronal geometry using an intracellular dye injection technique.Fed. Proc. 27:749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, M. 1965. The structure of septate desmosomes.J. Cell Biol. 25:166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loewenstein, W. R. 1966. Permeability of membrane junctions.Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 137:441.

    Google Scholar 

  • — Kanno, Y. 1964. Studies on an epithelial (gland) cell junction. I. Modifications of surface membrane permeability.J. Cell Biol. 22:565.

    Google Scholar 

  • — Nakas, M., Socolar, S. J. 1967. Junctional membrane uncoupling: Permeability transformations at a cell membrane junction.J. Gen. Physiol. 50:1865.

    Google Scholar 

  • — Socolar, S. J., Higashino, S., Kanno, Y., Davidson, N. 1965. Intercellular communication: Renal, urinary bladder, sensory and salivary gland cells.Science 149:295.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNutt, S., Weinstein, R. S. 1970. The ultrastructure of the nexus. A correlated thinsection and freeze-cleave study.J. Cell Biol. 47:666.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millonig, G. 1961. Advantages of a phosphate buffer for OsO4 solutions in fixation.J. Appl. Physics 32:1637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira-Castro, G., Loewenstein, W. R. 1971. Junctional membrane permeability: Effects of divalent cations.J. Membrane Biol. 5:51

    Google Scholar 

  • Pappas, G. D., Asada, Y., Bennett, M. V. L. 1967. Morphological and physiological changes in junctional sites of crayfish septate axons.Anat. Rec. 157:297.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, Bennett, M. V. L. 1966. Specialized junctions involved in electrical transmission between neurons.Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 137:495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payton, B. W., Bennett, M. V. L., Pappas, G. D. 1969. Permeability and structure of junctional membranes at an electrotonic synapseScience 166:1641.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penn, R. D. 1966. Ionic communication between liver cells.J. Cell Biol. 29:171.

    Google Scholar 

  • — Loewenstein, W. R. 1967. Intercellular communication and tissue growth. II. Tissue regeneration.J. Cell Biol. 33:235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Politoff, A. L., Socolar, S. J., Loewenstein, W. R. 1969. Permeability of a cell membrane junction. Dependence on energy metabolism.J. Gen. Physiol. 53:498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, D. D., Furshpan, E. J., Lennox, E. S. 1966. Connections between cells of the developing squid as revealed by electrophysiological methods.Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 55:328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Revel, J. P., Karnovsky, M. J. 1967. Hexagonal array of subunits in intercellular junctions of the mouse heart and liver.J. Cell Biol. 33:C7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, J. D. 1963. The occurrence of a subunit pattern in the unit membranes of club endings in Mauthner cell synapses in gold fish brains.J. Cell Biol. 19:201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, B., Loewenstein, W. R. 1969. Depression of junctional membrane permeability by substitution of lithium for extracellular sodium.Biochim. Biophys. Acta 173:146.

    Google Scholar 

  • —— 1971. Junctional membrane permeability: Depression by substitution of Li for extracellular Na, and by long-term lack of Ca and Mg; restoration by cell repolarization.J. Membrane Biol. 5:20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satir, P., Gilula, N. B. 1970. The cell junction in a lamellibranch gill ciliated epithelium.J. Cell Biol. 47:468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidtmann, M. 1925. Über die intrazelluläre H-Ionenkonzentration unter physiologischen und einigen pathologischen Bedingungen.Z. Ges. Exp. Med. 45:714.

    Google Scholar 

  • Socolar, S. J., Politoff, A. L. 1971a. Uncoupling a cell junction in a glandular epithelium by depolarizing current.Science 172:492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Socolar, S. J., Politoff, A. L. 1971b. Depression of conductance of a cell membrane junction by depolarization.XXV Intern'l Congress of Physiol. Sci. Munich, July 1971.

  • Watanabe, A., Grundfest, H. 1961. Impulse propagation at the septal and commissural junctions of crayfish lateral giant axons.J. Gen. Physiol. 45:267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weidmann, S. 1952. The electrical constants of Purkinje fibres.J. Physiol. 118:348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiener, J., Spiro, D., Loewenstein, W. R. 1964. Studies on an epithelial (gland) cell junction. II. Surface structure.J. Cell Biol. 22:587.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, R. L. 1959. Intercellular attachment in the epithelium ofHydra as revealed by electron microscopy.J. Biophys. Biochem. Cytol. 6:343.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cell Physics Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 10032, New York, New York

    Birgit Rose

Authors
  1. Birgit Rose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rose, B. Intercellular communication and some structural aspects of membrane junctions in a simple cell system. J. Membrain Biol. 5, 1–19 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870823

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870823

Keywords

Search

Navigation