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Ultrastructure of the developing chicken liver before hatching

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Summary

The ultrastructure of the developing chicken liver has been reexamined on specimens fixed by perfusion with glutaraldehyde. This fixation technique gives a preservation of ultrastructural detail superior to that of earlier investigations. Among others the following observations may be pointed out:

  1. 1.

    Bile canaliculi with well-developed microvilli and adjacent tight junctions are present already at the 4-day-old stage and then remain essentially unchanged during development.

  2. 2.

    A subendothelial space of Disse is not present until about 16 days of incubation.

  3. 3.

    The Golgi apparatus does not assume its adult appearance until about 8 days of incubation.

  4. 4.

    Glycogen is first observed in the 6-day-old specimens and then continuously increases throughout development. Glycogen particles often accumulate in membranelimited bodies reminding of the glycogen-filled lysosomes found in a certain type of glycogenosis (Pompe's disease).

  5. 5.

    The mitochondria increase in size and number during development with a conspicuous change from rounded towards more rodshaped and elongated forms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Anatomy, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

    Björn Sandström & Jan Westman

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  1. Björn Sandström
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  2. Jan Westman
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Sandström, B., Westman, J. Ultrastructure of the developing chicken liver before hatching. Z. Zellforsch. 117, 516–525 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330712

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330712

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