Midwest association of anatomists program and abstracts presented at the thirty-seventh annual meeting

A simultaneous morphological and quantitative profile was obtained of the cells of blood, thoracic duct, and renal hilar lymph in the dog. Monolayer cytocentrifuged preparations were used to determine the number, type, and size of cells in the three compartments. The cell count of renal lymph was not related to that of blood or thoracic duct lymph. There was a greater percentage of lymphoid cells in the afferent lymph than could be accounted for by the random movement of cells from the blood to the lymph. Thus, there appeared to be a selective transit of cells from blood to lymph. Monocytes and neutrophils were largely absent from the thoracic duct lymph; however, eosinophils were present. Cells were observed in hilar lymph that were characteristic of cells subjected to antigenic stimulation. It was concluded that lymphocytes have a preferential pathway from blood to lymphatic and in the course of this pathway they undergo a change which is consistent with an active immunological role.     

Southern society of anatomists prgram and abstracts presented at the. XIX annual meeting

The permeabilities of the parietal yolk sac placenta and the preplacental region of the hamster conceptus during early postimplantation (day 8) were compared by means of electron microscopy and a macromolecular protein tracer, horseradish peroxidase (HRP). HRP was administered by injection into the maternal venous system; samples of the two placental tissues were obtained for examination at intervals between 4 minutes and 1 hour later. The three layers of the parietal yolk sac wall (from outer to inner: capsular trophoblast, Reichert's membrane, parietal endoderm) appeared to provide little impediment to the passage of HRP from perivitelline maternal blood spaces to the yolk sac cavity. HRP passed through the outer trophoblast layer, both by way of intracellular fenestrae (60-200 nm diameter) and narrower intercellular channels, and completely permeated the meshwork of Reichert's membrane within minutes after injection. The inner parietal endoderm cell layer was widely discontinuous and clearly presented no barrier to HRP movement. HRP reaching the yolk sac cavity was avidly endocytosed by the visceral yolk sac epithelium. In contrast to the parietal yolk sac, the preplacental region of the conceptus was impermeable to HRP. Zonular occluding junctions located between contiguous cells of the chorionic ectoderm layer of the preplacenta were the obvious barrier to the HRP molecules. These results suggest that in this rodent species, during the early postimplantation period of gestation, the parietal yolk sac placenta potentially plays a more important role in the maternal-embryonic transfer of macromolecular substances than does the preplacenta.     

Eighty-fourth annual session. He Hahnemann Medical College,Philiadelphia, April 19, 20, 21, 22, 1971. Officers,abstracts, demonstrations

The mature ultimobranchial follicle of the rat consists of two or more layers of cells (U cells) surrounding a lumen containing cell debris. The ultrastructure of the outer, or basal, U cell is characterized by the presence of half desmosomes on the basal plasma membrane and pinocytotic vesicles near it, by little granular reticulum but an abundance of free ribosomes, by clusters of fibrils connected to desmosomes and possibly free in the cytoplasm. The cell ages by accumulation of clusters of fibrils and it undergoes differentiation to form more apical U cells which contain fewer ribosomes and have fibrils dispersed in the cytoplasm. The apical U cell is desquamated into the lumen and ultimately becomes a carcass containing a dense matting of fibers and vacuoles containing a reticulated material resembling that in the lumen. U cells are observed associated with typical thyroid epithelium in the thyroid of the newborn rat in relatively large follicles containing colloid and desquamated cells. They also form rods of cells in the very young rat. Mixed follicles containing both U cells and typical thyroid epithelium occur at all ages.     

American Association of Anatomists. Ninety second annual session,university of Miami,Miami, Florida April 2-6, 1979. Officers,abstracts, demonstrations

We describe the sequential ultrastructural changes in villus absorptive cells of human fetal small intestine between 9 and 22 weeks of gestation. In concert with villus formation at 9 to 10 weeks, a complex membranous system designated the apical tubular system appeared in the apical cytoplasm of absorptive cells. The apical tubular system consisted of deep invaginations of plasma membrane and membrane-bounded vesicles and tubules. Some elements of this system were characterized by linear arrays of particles on the inner (luminal) membrane leaflet. After villus formation, many lysosomal elements designated “meconium corpuscles” also appeared in the apical cytoplasm. Modified morphometric studies suggested that both the apical tubular system and the lysosomal elements were more extensively developed in the distal than in the proximal intestine, were most abundant at 15 to 17 weeks, and decreased by 18 to 22 weeks. Morphometry also showed an inverse relationship between the relative surface density of the apical tubular system and microvillus membrane, suggesting the possible derivation of elements of the former from the apical plasma membrane. Exposure of intestine to ferritin for 8 to 40 minutes in vitro revealed ferritin in elements of the apical tubular system of 12– to 20-week fetuses. There was no evidence of transport of ferritin across absorptive cells. Distinctive membranous bodies composed of convoluted membrane-bound cisternae separated by narrow channels of cytoplasmic matrix were seen in the Golgi region and apical cytoplasm of fetal absorptive cells between 14 and 22 weeks. In a single 22-week fetus, there was marked proliferation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, a decrease in cytoplasmic glycogen and loss of most lysosomal and apical tubular elements in the proximal but not the distal intestine. Thus, by the end of the second trimester, the structure of absorptive cells in proximal intestine was remarkably similar to absorptive cells in adult intestine.     

American Association of Anatomists. Eightieth annual session. University of Kansas Medical Center,April 4, 5, 6, 7, 1967. Officers,abstracts, demonstrations

Tritiated thymidine was injected into pregnant BALB/c mice intravenously at 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 days of pregnancy. Radioautographs were prepared in order to determine the extent of synthesis of DNA in the extraembryonic membranes at the above stages of gestation. The extent of synthesis of DNA was expressed as a radioactive index. The index is the per cent of labeled nuclei in a population of 1000 observed nuclei. Radioactive indices were determined for the nuclei of the endodermal cells of the visceral yolk sac and of the parietal yolk sac, for the nuclei of the trophoblastic cells of the junctional zone and of the labyrinth and for the nuclei of the trophoblastic giant cells. The observations show that in all of the examined types of cells the synthesis of DNA is extensive at days 10 and 12 of gestation and that it is nearly completed by day 14.